The Locket and the Malfoy Ring
by CopperCow
Summary: Harry may no longer be connected to Voldemort, but the Dark Lord's soul will become attached to another this August. Harry does his best to hide Umbridge's detentions, only making Kim seek revenge. Will Umbridge be able to handle Kim's pranks? Twin Sister fic, 3rd in Series, Ootp AU, RLSB, HPGW, DMOC
1. Betrayed

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: This is a third installment in a series. If this is your first time reading my stuff, you might be a tad bit confused. I tried to fill in a few blanks, but I always hate it in books when authors spend forever summarizing what happened in the other ones.**

Chapter 1

Narcissa tried her best not to shiver with fear as her sister Bellatrix led her to the dining room of her once beautiful home. Bellatrix had been over the moon when Narcissa announced her wish to join the Dark Lord, but Narcissa knew her sister would kill her on the spot if the Dark Lord wished it, which is why she knew she had to play her cards right. One slip of the tongue, one word that did not please their master, and Narcissa would be dead before you could say Quidditch.

Bellatrix's heels stopped clicking at the huge double doors that less than twenty years ago were opened to reveal the woman's wedding banquet. This time when she opened them, she revealed an audience of Death Eaters, not her family, and instead of Bellatrix's husband sitting at the head of the table, there was the Dark Lord. Narcissa took a deep breath and said calmly, "My Lord." She knelt on the ground as a sign of submission.

"Rise, Narcissa," Lord Voldemort said dismissively. She was immediately back on her feet. "What brings you here?"

"I have decided to pledge my loyalty, my lord." Narcissa saw her husband out of the corner of her eye. He looked exhausted.

"Loyalty?" Voldemort cackled cruelly. "If you were loyal, I would think you would have come to my aid when your husband was called."

"I didn't want to go to something so important if you did not trust me, my lord." Narcissa felt her heart hammering in her chest. She had never felt so afraid in her life.

Voldemort paused to consider this…and to let her squirm. "And it had nothing to do with your son's blatant betrayal?"

Narcissa gulped and said the words she had never thought she would say in a million years. "Draco is no son of mine." Bellatrix giggled.

"So you would be willing to kill him for me?" Voldemort smiled cruelly. "Call it an initiation."

Narcissa could only stare with like a deer caught in headlights. She was more than willing to be a spy for Dumbledore, but she was never willing to put her son in any amount of danger. If she pretended to be after her own son, Narcissa was sure that Bellatrix would come to her aid. Severus had never said it would be this hard. She couldn't do it. There was no way. Narcissa turned to Lucius and said so quietly that he could barely hear, "I'm sorry." Blinking the tears out of her eyes, Narcissa said, "No, my lord. I can't." She saw Lucius start to stand up, eyes wide with fear, but thankfully, Severus pulled him down. There was nothing they could do. They were surrounded by almost fifty Death Eaters.

The Dark Lord's nonexistent eyebrows rose in mock surprise. "No? I have never understood maternal feelings, Narcissa, but what your son did, for the sake of a halfblood, is unforgivable. So why can't you kill the blood traitor?"

Narcissa started shaking. She had definitely backed herself into a corner. The Dark Lord wasn't going to let her die until she flat out said that she was a spy. Unless… "Because he is young. Young and stupid and trying to rebel from his family. I know he will turn his life around eventually. And when he does, the information that he will have gathered will be priceless." The Dark Lord only stared at her. "Until then, he is no son of mine."

"I will be honest with you." The Dark Lord leaned back in his chair. "I am almost one hundred percent sure you cannot be trusted. From torturing Lucius, I know that you have spent time with the Potter girl. However, I want you to either prove yourself or spend as much time as a spy for Dumbledore as possible." There was a confused murmur among the Death Eaters that was quickly quelled when Voldemort raised a hand to silence them. "Then we will get _priceless _information, as you have said before. I wonder how many curses it will take for you to spill your secrets, Narcissa."

"I have no secrets from you, my lord," Narcissa lied smoothly.

Voldemort took a sip from his wine goblet. "We shall see. _Crucio_!" Narcissa spent the rest of the night screaming but didn't spill a single secret.

* * *

After waking up from yet another nightmare, Harry James Potter found himself lying down on the tile floor in the bathroom of Remus's cottage. He hadn't had a nightmare that hurt his scar since his last encounter with Voldemort but was still traumatized by it, dreaming about being tortured, thinking he was going to die, almost every night. He always woke up in a feverish sweat, so the cool tiles always calmed him down. He scrambled up to a sitting position though, when he heard the creak of the bathroom door opening.

To his relief, it was Remus and not Sirius who stepped through the door. "Don't worry, he didn't wake up." He sat down next to Harry. "I understand. I was the target of his worries from 1977 to late 1981."

"It's not my scar." Remus looked at him blankly. "My scar used to hurt when I dreamed about Voldemort. But that doesn't happen anymore."

"You're having trouble putting Voldemort's resurrection behind you?" Remus asked gently. Harry nodded. "I had a similar problem after Lily and James died and I lost…" Harry knew he was going to say when he lost the custody battle that was responsible for Kim being adopted, but instead of continuing, Remus shook his head to throw away the memories. "Anyway, I was also dealing with the memories of trying to sway certain werewolf packs to the Light Side during the War. Let's just say not all of them said, "No thank you," and left me be."

"So what'd you do?" Harry didn't how he would deal with his memories if he was all alone like Remus was.

Remus looked like he was debating whether to continue or not. "I blew a good chunk of what my parents left me on an addiction to Dreamless Sleep Potions." Harry felt his eyes widen in disbelief. "I never told anyone that. At least, I don't think so." Harry shook his head in the negative. Remus had forgotten the last two years after being injured by silver.

"What made you stop?" Harry asked cautiously. "You did stop, didn't you?"

Remus laughed quietly. "In 1984, Molly wanted to ask me to help with homeschooling. Fred and George were giving her a bit of trouble… She found me half naked with a bottle in my hand a few days after a full moon. She screamed so loudly that she woke me up even though I was half dead." Remus smiled to himself. "It still surprises me that she didn't even tell Arthur. She simply cleared all the bottles out of the house and demanded that she take care of me until I had it all out of my system."

"What did you do then?"

Remus looked up at the ceiling. He still felt like an idiot for how he acted after he lost everything. "Tried to get back to normal. I would have to say that the worst job I ever had was working at McDonald's."

Harry frowned. That definitely did sound like it sucked. "But did you still have nightmares?"

"For a while. And I was too ashamed to talk to Molly again. Especially since she found me in my underwear." Remus grinned. "James would've never let me forget that. I found it was better when I was working though. It kept me busy, and I was usually too tired to dream a lot of the time."

"So you're saying I should get a job at McDonald's?" Harry asked amusedly.

"No. I'm saying you should give yourself time to heal and not always think about what happened." Remus stood up and stretched. "And I find the kitchen floor much colder by the way."

"I'll keep that in mind for tomorrow." Harry yawned as he got up to try to get some sleep. He made to leave, but stopped. "Oh and Remus?" Remus stopped on his way to his own room. "Thanks." He nodded and left Harry to try to get back to sleep.

* * *

Remus didn't mention anything about what happened the next day. He did mention that he wasn't too happy that he found Kim still up at four in the morning, coloring out of a coloring book and trying to spike her now shoulder length hair with some hair gel she recently ordered. She scowled when he woke her up at ten thirty. "We went through this last year, and you agreed to let me sleep until one."

"I lost my memory, not my mind."

She merely shrugged. "It was worth a shot."

After breakfast, Sirius announced that Kim and Harry would be going to the Burrow while they had an Order meeting, making Harry frown. He had a vague idea of what the Order was but didn't understand why Sirius and Remus couldn't tell him anything. During the first meeting at the cottage, Sirius explained, "For the most part, you aren't missing much. We're mostly arguing with each other to try to find out what Voldemort's next move is." It was the 'for the most part' that bothered Harry the most, and the fact that Sirius had looked like he wanted to say more but couldn't bring himself to do it.

Harry was broken from his thoughts by Kim whining, "Again? Mrs. Weasley always leaves Percy in charge, and he yells at me when I get into a pillow fight with Fred and George."

Sirius sighed. He wanted Harry and Kim to be part of the meetings, to understand what they were up against, but he was out voted every meeting. "Then you'll just have to find a way to hide from Percy." Then he quickly added, "Within the wards."

Kim moaned dramatically and headed to the breakfast table. "I don't know why Sylvia likes Percy. He's a boring old poopy head."

"Are we staying there for the rest of the week?" Harry asked. Kim sent him a horrified look. "The full moon is Wednesday." It was Monday, and they all knew that Remus was going to feel like crap tomorrow.

Sirius opened his mouth to say yes, but Remus cut him off. "You can come back a few hours before dinner. There's no sense in making you leave until Wednesday." Kim grinned. No Percy for almost two whole days.

When they got to the Burrow, Harry was surprised, and a little disappointed to see Malfoy there. Kim ran up to him and hugged him so tightly he started choking. Ron walked over to Harry and muttered, "The bastard's been here since Saturday. And guess where he's been staying?"

"With Percy?" Harry said with false cheer.

Ron shook his head. "I wish. Expect a roommate on Wednesday, Mate."

After Percy yelled at Kim to stop kissing Draco, she asked, "Why are you here? I thought you and Blaise were going to your beach house."

Draco looked at the ground. "I haven't seen my father since…Since _He_ returned, and Mum left to go see Him Saturday morning."

Kim grabbed his hand, and they sat down on the sofa. "So I guess you don't know when they're coming back?" He shook his head. "Were you being nice to everyone?"

Draco straightened up, offended. "Why do you automatically assume that I wouldn't be?"

Ginny smiled while Percy scowled at the fact that she had her arms around Harry's waist. "You've been called me Weaselette all weekend."

"That's beside the point," Draco said arrogantly. "She's supposed to believe only the best of me."

"So you admit that it isn't your best behavior to call Ginny names," Harry said, grinning.

Draco turned pink and mumbled, "No comment."

Luckily for Kim, Percy was called into work in the middle of the afternoon, leaving Sylvia in charge, which pretty much meant a free for all. She was chasing Draco around the house with scissors saying she was going to cut his hair when Harry and Ginny slipped away. Harry was currently doing the most dangerous thing in the world, kissing Ginny Weasley in the backyard near a house full of Weasley brothers.

"I never got the chance to say—" He gasped as Ginny slid her hands up his shirt. She smiled at him as he nervously took a step back into the garage where Mr. Weasley "fixed" things. "G-Ginny! This is really important!"

"But we haven't had a chance to be alone all summer!" She kissed him sweetly. "I know you're too shy for PDF."

Harry felt his cheeks burn at her teasing. But it was true. It was just hard to do more than hold Ginny's had when a good half of the people around him were Weasleys. Ron acted like he was deathly ill whenever Ginny so much as kissed him on the cheek. "And I was also too shy to tell you I loved you for the first time in front of everyone!" He smirked at the dumbstruck look she gave him. "Well, there. Now you've gone and ruined the moment."

"I-I-I…" Ginny continued to stare at him of a second, at a loss for words. "I thought that when I told you before that you weren't ready to say it yet."

Harry shrugged. "I was a little overwhelmed with the fact that Sirius just finished bawling his eyes out on me. And the small fact that I had just returned from the dead."

Ginny smiled shyly. "I love you too." Harry cupped her face in his hands and leaned into kiss her when Ginny saw something out of the corner of her eye. She turned away so quickly that Harry almost stumbled to the ground. "No. Way." He looked to see what she was gapping at and felt all color drain out of him. There was a figure watching them…from Fred and George's window.

Fists clenched and ready for battle, Ginny marched back into the house, Harry nervously trailing behind her. Kicking open the door, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "FRED! GEORGE! I DON'T CARE WHICH ONE OF YOU IT WAS! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU BOTH!" She stopped at the sight of everyone frozen in shock and staring at her. Fred and George were not in the window and were, oddly enough, in the corner planning something with Ron. Draco was trying to pry the scissors out of Kim's hand without her noticing, and Sylvia was on the couch reading a magazine with a shirtless wizard on the cover. "Wha-What?" Confused, Ginny ran up the stairs.

Draco finally succeeded in yanking the scissors out of Kim's hands. "Ha! Only house elves cut my hair!" Harry smiled and decided he was going to try his best to pretend he wasn't just making out with Ginny in the backyard.

Kim pouted. "I needed something to do!" She flopped down on an armchair dramatically. Draco was about to suggest that they do a homework assignment together when Ginny thundered down the stairs.

She was carrying a cardboard cutout that was shaped like Fred or George and was even painted to have red hair. "You ass wipes!"

Ron frowned. "What? It was my idea! It's for in case the wards fall in the middle of the night. The intruder will think that someone saw them."

"Brilliant!" It reminded Harry of the automatic lights that Muggles have that turn on when someone walks up to their house.

"Brilliant!" Ginny shrieked. "It's an invasion of privacy!"

"What do you need to keep private in the backyard on a hot sunny day, Gin-Gin?" George asked, eyes gleaming mischievously.

"Perhaps, she's…" Fred pretended to choke back a sob. "Growing up Georgie!" Sylvia giggled behind her magazine.

Ron looked from Ginny's look of outrage to Harry's flushed appearance and back again several times. "Ugh! That's disgusting!"

Kim grinned and bounced up and down in her seat. "That's so funny! Can you make a cardboard cutout of me?"

"Ten sickles." Ron said firmly.

Kim pursed her lips. "Five."

"Nine."

"Seven." Ron stood up from his seat and shook Kim's hand.

"What could you possible use that for?" Draco asked.

Kim clearly didn't know, so she said cryptically, "The less you know, my love, the better." Draco rolled his eyes and joined her on the armchair.

They spent the rest of the time playing "What would you rather?" until the Order meeting was over. With Sylvia and Kim playing the questions were either really weird (Kim) or really sexually explicit (Sylvia). Ron's ears were red for the rest of the day when he father walked through the floo, and Sylvia asked, "Would you rather see Hermione getting dressed or Kim in a sexy version of the Hogwarts uniform?"

Mr. Weasley looked horrified, so Kim jumped out of her seat. "We're playing what would you rather, Mr. Weasley! Would you rather raise an alien baby with slimy tentacles or eat nothing but smelly fish for the rest of your life?" Mr. Weasley's brows furrowed in consideration.

"Hey! Ron didn't answer my question!" Sylvia whined. Ron shrunk into his seat as Draco glared at him, daring him to say that he'd rather see Kim. "Come on! Answer!"

Ron mumbled something that sounded like, "Mffuffmoine." And then looked at the ground.

"I can't hear you!" Sylvia said in a singsong voice. He mumbled even softer until she sat there with her face an inch from his.

"I said Hermione okay!" Sylvia burst into a fight of giggles as Ron's face turned a purple reddish color.

Mr. Weasley shook his head at his poor son's embarrassment. "Well, I guess I'd rather eat fish for the rest of my life. I do enjoy sardines."

"But Arthur! I was making ham for dinner!" Mrs. Weasley had just walked through the floo with Remus and Sirius.

Before Kim could ask Mrs. Weasley if she would rather have sextuplets or bathe in peanut butter for six years, Percy stormed into the house. He looked far from pleased and kept shooting Harry dark looks. "Father, Mother. May I talk to you privately?" Sylvia raised her eyebrows. Percy had better not fuck anything up. She really liked it here.

"What's the matter, Deary?" Mrs. Weasley asked with concern.

Percy sent Harry another dirty look, which made Sirius take a step forward. "I'd rather not say, in _mixed_ company."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked hotly.

"It means that I'd rather not discuss a family matter in the presence of those who are hiding from the Ministry." Percy ignored the fact that Sylvia's eyes were boring holes into his soul.

"Hiding from the Ministry?" Remus asked cautiously. Percy knew that Harry was letting everyone think he was dead so Voldemort would leave him alone for the summer, didn't he?

Percy took a deep breath. "Yes. He doesn't want the Ministry to know that he deluded an old man into doing his bidding."

"What?" Kim gave him a puzzled look. "Since when does Harry have bidding?" She giggled. "Besides kissing Ginny that is!" Harry threw her a desperate look that said, _Shut up!_

Percy ignored her. "Dumbledore has lost it if he thinks You-Know-Who has really returned." It was so silent that for the first time at the Burrow, you could hear a pin drop. "I was interrogated at work today just because I associate with the likes of him." Sylvia rolled her eyes. Was that what this was about? Work?

"And what did you say?" Sirius was seething.

Percy looked at him expressionlessly. "I have nothing to hide."

Remus sighed as he had to restrain Sirius. "What did you tell him about Harry, you pathetic little—"

"Maybe if they know that Harry was alive they could give him the help that he needs," Percy said calmly. Harry felt his stomach drop. Percy thought he was crazy?

"But-but I was telling the truth!" Harry never thought in a million years that Percy would do something like this. Sure, Percy was a prat, but that didn't mean he would betray him that easily.

Sylvia stood up angrily. "You weren't saying anything like this until you got called into work today!"

Percy's eyes softened. "They just made me realize the truth! I mean, nothing's happened! Don't you think that if You-Know-Who returned that something would have happened by now? Dumbledore has been after Fudge's job for years."

"You just want to cover your own ass!" Sylvia walked right up to him, her face so close that it looked like she was about to kiss him. Instead, she shoved him so hard that he fell to the ground. He backed away like a crab. "I mean, what the fuck?! If you just acted as dumb as you are now they would have left you alone! That's what I did last week!"

"You-you lied to the Ministry?" Percy gasped.

"Of course I lied to the Ministry!"

Percy got up and straightened his tie. "I'll be staying at Penelope's for a few days."

"You didn't break up with her!" Sylvia started shaking and her hair started turning black. There was no way. They had been together for about a year, and he had yet to break up with his old girlfriend?

"And it's a good thing, I didn't!" Percy turned to leave and just as he slammed the door, Sylvia lunged at it in her animagus form. The panther slammed into the wood but thankfully, didn't break it.

Sylvia quickly changed back to herself and patted down her hair. Sitting on her knees, she moaned, "Now how am I going to get him back?"

"Why would you want to do that?" Ron asked in disbelief. "He's a bloody git!" Mrs. Weasley couldn't take her eyes off the door, as if Percy would change his mind and come back through it.

She looked at Ron as if he were an idiot. "_Because_ he's my bloody git! Mine! Not that Penelope girl's!"

"I have to say I expected you to cry," Kim said, imitating the logical tone Hermione always used.

"No," Mrs. Weasley said, leaving no room for debate. "Percy has to come back when he knows that family is more important than work!" Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Excuse me." She hurried away to her and Arthur's room.

Mr. Weasley ran his hands through his thinning hair. "I'm really sorry, Harry."

Before Harry said that it was okay, Sirius yelled, "Sorry? Now Voldemort is going to go after Harry!" Everyone flinched at the word Voldemort.

"It isn't Mr. Weasley's or anyone's fault," Harry said desperately. "Percy…" Harry really didn't know what to say about Percy. He was too shocked to know what to think. "I don't understand. I just…Never mind." It wasn't like anyone was going to tell anything anyway.

"You can dye your hair. Or were contacts." Kim was hoping that Sirius wasn't going to have a meltdown.

"No, no…" Sirius covered his face in his hands for a moment. "We might have to have another Order meeting."

"Sirius." Remus sighed. "Perhaps it's best if Harry stayed at the cottage. I can go to the Shrieking Shack on Wednesday."

Harry was trying his best to keep his temper in check. Remus should be able to stay in his own home when he was sick and in pain. He took a deep breath and tried to look out the window, but he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Is there a reason he's always after me? This has to be more than just pride or revenge. I-I mean, there's got to be other people who have gotten away from him before, like escaped at the last minute or something. Why is he always after me first?"

"Harry…" Sirius didn't know how to continue. He was yelling an hour ago that Harry needed to know the truth, but now that he was about to say it, it was too hard to continue. "I don't know how to…"

Harry's eyes flashed, hurt that Sirius would keep things from him. "I can't be kept in the dark forever, Sirius."

Sirius opened his mouth to try again, when Dumbledore made his entrance. "I have Cornelius waiting in my office, demanding to know where Harry is. He wants him evaluated. I told him that I had no idea what he was talking about. But now he is demanding to see Harry's ashes."

"Tell him if he wants ashes, to light a cigarette!" Kim snapped. "Harry isn't crazy! He's not being evaluated either. Fudge has no reason to force it unless Harry is an immediate danger to himself or others."

Dumbledore smiled. "He may need reminding, Miss Potter."

"Tell him whatever you want," Harry muttered irritably. "I'm not talking to him though. I'm not in the mood to deal with his bullshit today." Ignoring everyone staring, Harry went to the fireplace and said clearly, "Hedwig's Nest." Kim had changed it as a prank to Sirius one time when he tried to come home from a card game with Mundungus Fletcher. The name stuck because Sirius figured no one would think of it if they had managed to get passed the wards.

* * *

Harry didn't talk much the next two days. Whenever Sirius tried to say something, he would freeze up, only making Harry madder. If it was that bad and was about him, Harry thought he had every right to know. Hundreds of possibilities flew through his mind. Was Voldemort trying to steal his magic? Did Voldemort think that sacrificing him would somehow make him all powerful? Why? Was his magic abnormal somehow? It wasn't like he was the best in his class like Hermione or anything. He had never seen himself as particularly powerful. Remus said that Voldemort was currently looking for exactly why he was after Harry, which only confused the boy even more. Why couldn't Remus tell him either? Harry felt like ripping his hair out. He wasn't a little kid anymore, but he wasn't going to push Remus when he was so sick looking so close to the full moon. It was bad enough that Remus was going to the Shrieking Shack for him.

He had his potions textbook in front of him and was currently pretending to read it while his thoughts were racing. Therefore he didn't really pay attention to the shadow of a small teenage girl over him until it was too late. "Ah! Kim!" He looked at the fact that he was covered in glitter. "What the hell?"

Kim looked guiltily at him and hid the large bowl that had the glitter in it behind her back. "I need someone to play with, and Remus says we can't get a puppy!"

"So you pour glitter on me?" Harry tried to shake his some glitter out his hair, but it somehow seemed to embed itself in there.

"Yes," she said quietly.

Harry sighed. "Fine. What do you want to do?"

She thought for a minute. "I don't know."

"Okay." Harry was trying his best not to flip out on her. "Maybe next time you should think about that before you turn me into the Tooth Fairy."

"Who?" Kim shook her head. "I want to see you change into an animagus!"

"I can't do that yet. I'm still reading the textbooks." _Which I only read when I can't sleep._

"Hmmm…" Kim tapped her chin. "Do you want to play outside?"

"It's the full moon in a few hours. Remus doesn't like us outside during the full moon." Kim pouted. "We could paint that cardboard cutout Fred and George made for you."

She perked up. "Really?!"

"Really." Harry flinched when Sirius and Remus emerged from their room. Remus waved goodbye and went through the floo while he still had the strength to do it by himself, but Sirius lagged behind. Harry bit his lip. "Be careful." Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, half expecting Harry to yell at him and left.

"What the hell?" Kim yelled when he was gone. "He didn't even wait for me to say goodbye!"

Harry gave her a small smile. "You know how nervous he gets during the full moon. Just be thankful that he doesn't worry about you as much as he does me and Remus."

"But he was friends with me first! And now I have to prank him to teach him a lesson!" Kim summoned her cardboard cutout. "We have to make this as scary as possible."

* * *

Sirius placed a thick, blue robe on a half asleep Remus the next morning. "Come on, love. Let's get you home." He half carried Remus through the tunnel that lead to Hogwarts. Not for the first time in the last year and a half, Sirius wondered if Remus was getting too old for this. He wished St. Mungo's would put more research into making lycanthropy more manageable instead of just searching for a cure. He thanked God every full moon for Wolfsbane though. At least Remus didn't have to worry about attacking anyone anymore and stopped biting himself.

They stopped at the Hospital Wing first where Sirius demanded that Remus get a checkup. Once Remus was given every possible potion imaginable, Sirius finally flooed Remus home. The house was quiet, but Sirius still shook his head at the sight of glitter, markers, crayons, and paintbrushes all over the living room floor. Remus didn't make a sound, so Sirius figured he was too out of it to notice.

Once Remus was placed in bed, Sirius heard him murmur, "It's weird. Not being alone anymore." He yawned. "But a good weird." Sirius smiled, and they both went to sleep, glad that the house wasn't burned to the ground while they were gone.

Six hours later, Sirius woke up and put his arms around Remus's waist, and stopped when he felt cardboard. Waking up completely, Sirius opened on eye and squealed. Falling off the bed, Sirius jumped up to see the creepiest creature he had ever seen. Its hair was completely made of glitter, and its eyes, which were totally different sizes, looked like they were on some kind of drug trip. It had rainbow pants and a tuxedo top. It had no distinct fingers but had fake nails glued on it. It lacked a mouth, ears, and appeared to have had its feet sawed off. Blood was painted where the missing feet were supposed to start. "KIM!"

Kim skipped into the room. "Hey Sirius! Do you want waffles? Remus is in the bathtub and says that you had better eat something!" Sirius glared at her. "Harry painted the tux part!" Without another word, she ran away giggling.

They ate breakfast in silence until Remus came out of the bathroom, and Sirius asked him a thousand questions about how he was feeling. Remus answered them all with patience that Harry figured could only be acquired with years of practice and then headed back to bed. They were all clearing away the plates of breakfast/late lunch when Sylvia ran through the floo. Her eyes were bloodshot as if she had been crying for a while. "Did you get Cole's letter?" Harry figured Cole must've somehow charmed his raven to have super speed, considering that he was in America.

Kim looked at the raven that had just flown to the window and started tapping at it furiously. Harry walked over to let it in. "Yes. What's up?"

"It's Mom and Dad," Sylvia said as if she couldn't believe what she herself was about to say. "They're dead."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! No, I'm not going to make Remus have any kind of drug problem. That's just too much. But I didn't think that it would make sense for when he was all alone those twelve years. Sylvia reacted so violently to Percy's betrayal because she saw him as the perfect guy and never thought he would do something like this. The next chapter will come up soon since it's a shortie! Please review!**


	2. Snape's on a Plane!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: I'm not sure if there are any new readers, but the next couple chapters may seem like a bit of an OC overload. After they go home from the funeral, there won't be so many, I promise! I know some people hate too many OCs in fanfiction.**

Chapter 2

"I…" Kim had no idea how to respond to that. Especially since technically, they were no longer her parents. She had always remembered being desperate for their attention, and once in a blue moon had a nice time with her mother…but she found herself more upset about what could've been, instead of what they really had with each other. She wondered what things would have been like if her parents were somebody else…_like Lily and James_, she thought to herself. Swallowing a lump in her throat, Kim asked, "How? When? What are we going to do?"

Sylvia looked into the distance for a moment before she became animated once more. "What do you mean what are we going to do? We-we have to go home! We have to pack our things! How are we going to get there? Oh God! I didn't think I'd have to deal with this for another decade or so." Kim frowned. That was one way of looking at it.

"Care to explain what happened?" Sirius had no idea what was going to happen next, but if he had his way, he would pretend like nothing happened. It wasn't like they were good to those kids. If anything he felt relieved that there was no way they could ever hurt Kim again.

Sylvia looked subconsciously at the door that she knew Remus was behind. "They were eaten alive …" She cast another quick glance at the door again as if Remus was listening. "…by werewolves."

* * *

Kim creeped into Remus's room the next day around noon and was happy to see that he was reading and not sleeping like he was on his deathbed. "Did Sirius tell you what happened?"

Remus put his book down, wondering what was going on now. "No. Though I have to say I'm not surprised."

"My parents, I-I mean, Russell and Marry died." Kim kicked at imaginary dust on the floor. "Sylvia wants us to go for the funeral and stuff."

"But do you want to go?" Remus couldn't believe that Sirius 'failed to mention' this, as the animagus always said whenever something happened after the full moon. He thought it was something minor like a bunch of dishes or a vase broke. Something that Sirius thought would stress Remus out, but this was something that couldn't just be swept under the rug.

"I feel like it's the right thing to do, for Sylvia at least," she said slowly. "But do _you_ want to go?" Remus flinched. He knew that house was the home of werewolf hunters. "I understand if you don't want to, but Sirius said that if you don't want to go than we aren't going at all."

"That's rather…awful." Remus saw her smile sadly, but he couldn't help but think there was something Kim and everyone else wasn't telling him. "How did they die?"

Kim fidgeted. "They were attacked by a werewolf pack…I-I don't know how they managed to get through the wards! This shouldn't have happened." She stopped herself before she could get hysterical.

Remus felt his insides freeze up. "Were there stronger wards put up?" She nodded quickly while Remus mentally debated whether or not it was safe enough to go. With a sigh, he said, "I'll go. We can always go home if things get out of hand." Unfortunately, things got out of hand too quickly for them to go home.

* * *

Calvin sat awkwardly in front of the desk in Professor Dumbledore's office. He wasn't sure if what he was going to ask was worth it. Hell, he knew it was going to stir up tons of trouble, and that his father's mistress was going to kill him if she found out that it was him that led to what would reveal her secret. However, if it were him, Calvin knew he would want to know. "I want Severus Snape to accompany us to the funeral."

Shock flashed in the headmaster's eyes but only for a brief moment. "Ms. Tonks and the Weasley family are going to be joining you along with your sisters, Harry, and Remus and Sirius. I believe Alastor planned on joining you too. Airports are crowded. Death Eaters wouldn't attack with so many people in the area." _At least, not yet,_ Albus thought darkly.

Calvin toyed with the collar of his shirt nervously. "I saw something of his there, sir." Again, he was met with surprise. "I didn't realize it until..." Until he broke the betrothal contract that was set up for him when he was seven. He fiddled with his hands in lap. "It's none of my business, but I think he would want to know about it."

Albus stared at him for what felt like forever. "I suppose I could tell Severus that he is needed to keep things in order." The man's eyes started twinkling. "Although, I daresay, he won't be too happy about it."

Calvin didn't know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or to really start feeling nervous. He knew one thing. He certainly wasn't looking forward to going home. But he knew that something wasn't right, and there was no way that he was going to hide from it while everyone else was in that house. Werewolves couldn't have gotten past the wards that easily since they don't practice magic on a regular basis. There was no way. He himself had put them up, and only a few people knew how to take them down. And there were even fewer people who were close enough to the manor to be able to do it.

* * *

Fred was a little ashamed to say that he was excited to be on this trip, a little. Sure, his friends' parents had just died and sure, all the newspapers this morning said that Harry was a psychopath trying to bring down the government, but he had never been on an airplane before. Would they fly around the moon? Or under the water? Fred had no idea. But he did know one thing. Whoever sat next to him on the plane was going to be beet red when they sat on the whoopee cushion he planted there. They had to sit where the tickets told them so George was sitting next to Sylvia and Malfoy while Fred was waiting for his mystery companion.

He heard the sound before he dared to look over to see who had the privilege of sitting next to him and had to swallow his giggles at the glowering face. "September second is when I think you will be serving your detention, Mr. Weasley." Sirius was laughing hysterically in the row behind while Calvin was looking out the window, trying not to smile.

Even better, worse in Professor Snape's opinion, was who sat on the other side of him. "Professor Snape! What are you doing here?" Kim bounced up and down in her seat. "Are you going to go swimming with me? Are you going to eat pizza with me? Can we go to the Art Museum together? I want your opinion on a few works! Ooo! I know! You can ride my pony! He needs all the exercise he can get! He's a fatty," she ended with a whisper. Severus already wanted to rip his hair out.

The loudspeaker suddenly called out, "_Buckle you seatbelts and prepare for liftoff._"

Kim tensed. "Liftoff? As in, in the sky?!"

"Yes, Miss Potter. That is what an airplane does. It flies at very high altitudes in the sky," Severus said dryly, not knowing about Kim's fear of heights. _It's going to be a long seven hours for Snape,_ Fred thought and sniggered.

"I-I think I'm going to be sick!" Severus wondered if he would be better off jumping out of the plane than to sit between Potter and Weasley. Kim slowly turned a pasty green color as they started to ascend. She took a deep breath. "It'll be okay…We won't crash and burn to death or be flat splattered pancakes on the ground or be impaled with plane bits as we drown in the ocean or-or…"

"Miss Potter! Try to contain yourself. It is just like, if not better, than the Knight Bus. So I suggest you shut up before I place a seven hour silencing charm on you." Severus felt Black kick the back of his seat.

"But-but we're going to die!" she wailed. The flight attendants started giving her funny looks. "I've never been so high up in my life!"

Fred looked out the window. "We're so high up that I can barely see the ground…well, ocean." Severus felt his fingers twitch with the overwhelming desire to strangle them both.

Kim made to jump out of her seat, but Severus roughly pushed her back down, ignoring yet another kick from Black. "I'll cut you a deal, you demented little imp, if you stay calm and quiet for the rest of the flight, I won't give you detention for the entire school year." Kim stared at him for a long time, and then looked at the window fearfully. Reluctantly, she held out her trembling hand for Severus to shake. Scowling at the fact that he had to touch her, Severus quickly shook her hand and rolled his eyes when she put her face in her hands after that for Merlin knows how long.

Fred, however, refused to make any such deal. "You know Professor, George and I think that your potions skills would do wonders for our business. How would you like a summer job?"

"Mr. Weasley—"

"No, no. You don't have to answer now. We are currently trying to invent a potion that can be added to gummy bears to make one be hairy like a bear. However, we are struggling to figure out how to not make the candies turn hairy. Now, that's where you come in." Fred gave his Potions professor a winning smile.

Severus looked at Fred as if he just asked to marry him. What happened to the days when these kids feared him? Or at least were too repulsed by him to go near him unless absolutely necessary? "Mr. Weasley, believe it or not, but I want nothing to do with you. And I am not a fan of pranks."

"But we'll split the profit equally between the four of us!" Fred looked like he had no idea why Severus wouldn't want to do this, but Severus saw the mischievous glint in the young man's eyes. "This is an opportunity that you wouldn't want to miss out on!"

A flight attendant was walking by so Severus took the opportunity to stop her. "Excuse me, Miss?" She stopped and looked inquiringly at him. "How long until we land?"

She looked at her watch and couldn't help but smirk. "Six and a half hours, sir." She walked away before Severus asked if the plane could fly any faster.

Severus felt like he was going to have a stroke as the hours passed by excruciatingly slowly. After Fred figured out the Severus was ignoring him, he started trying to get Kim to talk. He told every crude joke that he knew but only got an occasional whimper out of her. Halfway through the flight, he even leaned over Severus to try to start tickling her and got a long lecture from the flight attendants, who said that they could handcuff him in the cockpit if he kept this up. For about twenty minutes after that, Fred wouldn't stop laughing at the word 'cockpit'.

Five hours later, Kim looked up and grabbed the sleeve of a flight attendant. Still trying to be quiet, she whispered, "Excuse me! Where's the potty?"

"Oh for Christ's sake," Severus grumbled.

Glaring at Severus because she thought something was wrong with Kim, the flight attendant shook her head at him and held out her hand to take Kim to the bathroom. Kim turned around and stuck her tongue out at him as she started walking away. Very calmly and quietly she added, when they were safely on land. By the time she sat down, Kim found some Gryffindor courage and solemnly ate her lunch. She was so quiet that Severus was considering having lessons in the Astronomy Tower this year.

When the flight was finally over and everyone was allowed to leave, Kim ran out of the plane into the airport screaming, "LAND! LAND!" Severus decided that this was going to be the longest funeral he ever attended.

"Kimberly!" Mad-Eye barked. "If we lose you, you'll be dead for sure!"

"Allow me," Calvin said with a smile. Running like an American football player, Calvin charged at Kim and scooped her up, threatening to spike her like a football if she didn't stop screaming and squirming.

Kim pouted during the whole ride home and threw about a thousand glares at Sylvia when she started talking about all the good times they had with their parents. She was angry because a good number of those stories were made up. Calvin could see that Kim was about to start a fight in the car so he said softly, "It was me who took you guys to the zoo, not Mom." Sylvia froze and immediately shut up.

Harry was surprised though, when Kim jumped out of the car excitedly and started running around. "We're going to have so much fun!" She cartwheeled around and grabbed her shrunken suitcase and ran into the house.

Draco walked up to him warily. "Isn't this where…" He didn't have it in him to finish.

"Yeah." Sometimes Harry had trouble understanding his sister. "This is where Russell tortured her."

A few minutes later, she dragged Cole out, who looked very tired. "He said that we can have a pizza party!"

Calvin walked up to Cole as if he were preparing to fight him. "The wards are new."

"Because the other ones fell." Cole looked like he was waiting for Calvin to challenge him. Dora grabbed Calvin's arm, but he stood perfectly still. "I had the blood cleaned up this morning. The bodies will take at least a week to be suitable for burial."

"When did the wards fall?" Dora pulled at his arm but shrunk away after Calvin gave her a look of pure fury.

"During the full moon." Cole looked at Dora with envy. "You should be nice to the one you love. You never know how long you have with her."

"Exactly, Agatha is dead, Cole. Give it up. You're out of control, you son of a—" Calvin was stopped in mid-rant when Cole punched him in the face so hard that he fell to the ground. Standing up immediately and wiping the blood from his mouth on his sleeve, Calvin pulled out his wand. "Do that again, and I'll burn the rest of you!" he snarled and headed into the house.

They stood in awkward silence until a flashy red car sped towards them at a hundred miles an hour. It was going too fast to stop right away and sped around them in circles until it slowed down. Draco, who had never seen a car before except for the one he was just in, started screaming like a dying mouse, making Fred and George laugh until tears fell from their eyes. Finally, it stopped circling them and Lee hopped out of the driver's side. "Hey guys! Guess who just got their car back from their dad!"

The passenger's side opened and a green Charlie flopped out. "Merlin! I'm going to be sick."

"There's a bathroom behind a small white door inside," Lee said cheerfully.

"I'm not going to make it." Charlie started heaving. This was way worse than riding dragons and hippogriffs put together.

"Oh." Lee thought for a moment. "Well, there's some nice rose bushes right there." He wrinkled his nose when Charlie ran over to them and started puking his guts out. "Maybe we shouldn't have eaten at that seafood place before we left for here."

"Well at least he'll have room for pizza," Kim said seriously. She shook Cole, who was looking rather grim. "Order it! Order it now!"

When they got into the house, Sirius flopped down onto the nearest couch and said loudly into the couch, "So. Tired."

"And it's only lunch time," Harry said cheerfully, hoping to get him up for food. But he didn't budge until the pizza was delivered and he could smell it.

Now that they weren't on a mission to save Kim, Harry looked up over a fireplace to see a family portrait that must've been painted when Kim was about twelve or thirteen. A fourteen year old Sylvester looked at his family and rolled his eyes, leaving the portrait. Harry wondered if he could talk like the portraits at Hogwarts now that he was dead. His head popped into another picture, one that he didn't quite fit in and kept looking at Remus curiously. "He doesn't talk," Kim said quietly. "He used to. But they only do when their soul wants to. Kind of like being a part-time ghost."

"Why does he keep staring at me?" Remus asked. It wasn't hatred like he expected. It almost seemed like the boy wanted to ask him something.

Kim flinched. "He's curious. I keep forgetting you don't remember. Can you ask Sirius?" She looked at Sirius's limp form. "Later. I don't…and no one else likes talking about it." Remus sighed and nodded reluctantly.

* * *

Cole directed everyone to their rooms, grinning when Mr. Weasley said he didn't want Harry's room right across from Ginny's like he suggested. Harry felt himself turn red, trying to act like it never happened and trying to ignore how disappointed Ginny looked. The room given to him was clearly a guest room. Everything was a shade of blue that reminded him of a beach house. The floors were wooden, and there were no pictures. He was just starting to unpack his things when Kim started screaming that the pizza was here.

When he stepped out of his room, he looked to see his new neighbor coming out too. "Wonderful."

Malfoy scowled. "What do you expect, Potter? That guy with the black hair likes messing with us. He likes messing with everyone. He asked me if I was planning on getting lucky tonight!" He turned pink at the thought. "I mean, we're here for a funeral, not a vacation!"

"Tell that to Kim. Things are a little fishy though. I mean, isn't it a huge coincidence that he's been messing with a werewolf pack and all of the sudden this happens?" Harry forgot for a minute that he was talking to Malfoy.

Malfoy suddenly looked fearful and of course, didn't say anything helpful or inspiring like Ron or Hermione would say. "Do you think things got out of hand? That they'll come after us?"

"I don't know," was all Harry could tell him. One thing he did know, however, was that something was definitely wrong.

* * *

Calvin joined them for dinner but didn't say a word. Harry could tell that Dora was mad at him, considering how violently she ripped her slice of pizza from the box. Sirius was having some awful jetlag and looked about ready to go home. Remus had to use a plastic cup and utensils since all the regular stuff was silver. Kim freaked out on Ron because he tried to sit in what used to be Sylvester's seat, so they currently weren't talking. Ginny was annoyed because Sylvia asked her if she wanted to know how to use makeup, which Ginny took as Sylvia saying that she needed makeup and wouldn't know how to properly use it. Charlie was still sick and, all in all, Severus seemed to be in the best mood there, which wasn't saying much. That is, until Russell's mistress showed up for her cut of the will.

It surprised Harry that she was the woman from Kim's memories. The woman that Remus had said was his mum's friend. In the memory that he saw, this woman, Elizabeth, wasn't on friendly terms with Russell. She smiled at him. "Didn't think I'd see you here." Harry noticed that Snape went rigid at the sight of her, but she went out of her way not to look at him. "Who was it that made sure you all paid your…respects?"

"It was me." Sylvia looked at her with complete hatred. "You should've have come here at night, like you always do."

She giggled. "The bank is closed at night, Sweetheart."

"You were friends with my mum?" Harry asked quickly to avoid an argument.

Elizabeth's golden eyes turned to him. "Your mother was a beautiful light in everyone's life. However, I wasn't a good enough friend to see it until she was gone."

Cole reached into his jacket and took out some forms. "Just sign it. The rest is mine since Calvin was disinherited. I'm going to make a few trust funds for the kiddies." He jerked his finger at the rest of the table. "So if you want one for…"

"That would be nice," Elizabeth said nervously before he could finish. Harry frowned and couldn't help but notice how fidgety Calvin was. "Well, I'd best be off." She turned to Harry. "I have a few pictures, if you'd like them. Trick or treating, Pollyanna, us going to primary school."

It took Harry a moment to figure out that she was talking about his mother. "That would be nice." He had never seen his mum as a little girl. He blinked in surprise when she leaned over the table and started signing the papers. "On your arm, is that—?"

"A Dark Mark?" He nodded. "Voldemort's servants wear them, Darling. And I have to say, it's been prickling a bit lately."

"That's because he's back," Harry said a little sharply, daring her to say otherwise. Sirius had tried to hide them, but Harry had seen the newspapers lately. He wasn't crazy, but right now they were calling him 'The Boy Who Went Insane'. Still, he wanted to kick himself for saying it right after he did it. He might as well be handing Voldemort more servants.

She bit the inside of her cheek, like she was thinking about what to do. "Interesting. Unfortunately, I'm done with the whole Death Eater Phase." Sirius smirked at the word _phase_ while Remus couldn't help but be surprised. They had thought she was dead, but all this time, she was really a Death Eater? "Hopefully, he doesn't come here. I'd imagine I'd be in a spot of trouble."

Elizabeth went rigid much like Snape did before when she heard, "Mom! The driver has the car too cold! I thought you'd only be a minute," the girl whined. Harry noticed Kim's hair bristle.

The only thing different from the Stella of Kim's memories and the current Stella was a black leather eye patch over her eye, and the fact that instead of a school uniform, she wore a thin, tight white t-shirt and shorts that were so short that Harry looked away with embarrassment. He looked over to see that Snape was much paler than usual and saw his eyes widen, but only for a second. Elizabeth cast the man a quick glance and then tried her best not to look at him again. But Stella didn't notice this. Her eyes were on Kim. "How was the mental institution?" Sirius winced inwardly at the look of shock on Remus's face…and the Weasleys.

"How was reconstructive surgery?" Kim shot back.

Elizabeth glared at them both. "Shut up! Both of you. I want you both to say something nice about each other." They remain silent and kept staring at each other. "NOW!"

Stella rolled her eyes. "If your animagus form was permanent, I would gladly skin you to make a nice fur coat."

"If we were stuck on an island with no food, and we decided to eat you first, I would make sure you were dead before we roasted you so I wouldn't have to hear your screams." Harry noticed Lee snicker at both their comments.

"That's it!" Elizabeth grabbed Stella by her arm and started dragging her away. "Have them send for the key to the vault! I'll be back tomorrow."

Once they were gone, Severus asked demandingly, "How old is that girl?"

"A few months younger than Kim," Calvin said quietly. "About five."

Severus was as white as a sheet. "And she's Elizabeth's biologically daughter?" Calvin nodded. "She's—"

"So hot!" Fred made everyone jump by saying. He turned a bright red when he realized he said that out loud.

Severus looked at him coldly. "She's my daughter."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I hinted at this in the beginning of the last book! Poor Professor Snape! Please review!**


	3. Snape's Daughter and Fred's Crush

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**NEW A/N: Nothing's changed. I just wanted to add for anyone who doesn't like this many OCs to skip to the chapter called "Reunion". I'm just added this because, hypocritically, I'm not a fan of a lot of OCs myself. :/**

Chapter 3

"What?!" Kim squeaked. "No way! There's no way that my Professor Snape, who had befriended me two years ago and gives me detentions to spend time with me, could create such a vile, disgusting whore!" All the other kids looked appalled at the fact that Severus had done what it took to reproduce.

"Shut up Potter!" Severus grabbed his wine goblet with shaking hands and took a long drink. "I can't believe that she would do this to me!" Realizing who he was talking to, he got up and quickly stormed off to his room.

Kim pouted. "They better not come to Hogwarts."

"That's all you have to say?" Ron asked. "I-I mean Snape…Ugh!"

"One, Ron I'm still mad at you. Two, Elizabeth does anything and everyone. Three, if I think about it, I'll be too grossed out to eat my pizza!"

"It's always so much fun around you guys," Cole said cheerfully. "I wish you the best of luck, Ron." Ron looked at him with confusion. "No, wait George?"

"Close," George said, smiling.

Cole clapped his hands together. "Ah, yes. Fred. Best of luck to you with Calvin's old fiancée."

Dora jumped out of her seat. "WHAT?"

"I'm going to fucking kill you, Cole!" Calvin rubbed at his temples. "We never did anything. It was arranged."

"Oh yeah right!" Dora laughed without humor. "No one does that anymore."

"Kim was my fiancée," Lee piped in. Dora blinked in surprised. "Yup. That's why at tattooed her." Kim glared at him. Worse. Prank. Ever.

"I told every man about my promiscuous reputation so they would stay away from me," Sylvia added. Mrs. Weasley gaped at her with appalled shock.

Dora screamed out in frustration and stomped away yelling, "You guys are all nuts! Completely and utterly nuts!"

Cole sniggered when she left. "See. You guys a such fun!"

"Sirius," Remus said angrily. "We need to talk." Sirius shrunk into his seat. So much for trying to sneak in a nap before dinner.

* * *

For once, Remus was the one who was pacing when they were alone in their room a few minutes later. "A mental institution? I think that is something I should know about my own goddaughter, Sirius. What else are you not telling me?"

Sirius flinched. "I didn't want to bring up what we already moved passed. I mean, Harry is just getting comfortable with affection a-and Kim isn't sick anymore. I thought that if they wanted to, they would tell you."

Remus felt anger boiling his blood. "Tell me everything. Now."

Sirius gritted his teeth. "It's not like you told me everything either! You never mentioned the Penseive until we needed it or that you isolated yourself from everyone else when I was in Azakaban or Merlin knows what else! You didn't even talk about trying to get custody of Kim and Harry until Snape decided he was going to announce it to the whole world."

"What do you expect?" Remus snapped. "That I would just get over everything that happened and go on with my life? Fine! I was miserable! Everything sucked! They're my kids too, Sirius. I need to know if they have a serious problem like this."

"Okay," Sirius said in a deadly calm voice. "Harry grew up starved, beaten, and in a cupboard while Kim grew up tortured and tried to off herself after killing her uncle in this very house, which really bothers me, considering how happy she is to be here! Harry thinks he's a burden all the time and never comes to me with any big problems unless he absolutely has to, and even then he usually won't. Kim either doesn't take us seriously or thinks any form of discipline is going to lead to physically violence. And it's all my damn fault for going after that rat instead of trying to figure out how not to go to Azkaban!" Sirius took a deep breath. "Please, feel free to ask questions."

"I'm sorry," Remus whispered numbly. He had plenty of questions but was too afraid to hear the answer.

"I'm going to stay in another room tonight…today, whatever fucking time it is over here," Sirius muttered, grabbing his suitcase and walking quickly to the unoccupied room next door.

He immediately regretted his decision the moment he stepped into the room and slammed the door behind him. The room was clearly Kim's second bedroom and was filled to capacity with stuffed animals. No matter where he turned, they were all staring at him with their soulless black eyes. Sirius ran to the door and swung it open to find Remus wincing because his hand was on the doorknob. "Oh thank God. If I had to sleep in here, I would've had a heart attack!"

"Is that the only reason, Padfoot?" Remus asked shyly.

"Yes," Sirius said stubbornly.

"Then I guess I'll stay in here and you'll stay in the other room…" Remus chuckled at the look of horror on Sirius's face.

"But-but no one deserves to wake up to tha-that!" Sirius pointed frantically to this freaky room.

"Hey!" Kim stopped in the doorway on her way to her real room on the third floor. "What are you guys doing in here? This room is sacred! This is my collection!"

"Collection of what? Satanic effigies?" Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"No," Kim mumbled. "Harry said that if you guys break up that he refuses to go back to the Dursleys, and we'll have to live alone on the streets."

"No, he didn't," Sirius said instantly.

"Fine." Kim put her hands on her hips. "But you can't break up!"

"Were you listening to what we were saying?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"Yes." There was no shame in her voice.

"We aren't breaking up." Sirius grabbed her by her shoulders and spun her around. "So you go up to your room and go to bed!"

"But it's only two o'clock!"

"That's your punishment for listening to other people's conversations." Sirius grinned as she stomped off, declaring that she wasn't going to bed until two o'clock in the morning. He shivered as he looked around the room. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Harry looked at Kim like she was out of her mind. "You want to what?"

She threw her hands up in the air. "I don't know what is so hard to understand about it! Remus and Sirius are acting all awkward around each other so to make them happy again we have to put Sirius in terrible danger!"

"That makes no sense what so ever!" Ron exclaimed. "Parents fight! Then they get over it the next day and act all lovey and gross with each other." Ginny wrinkled her nose at the thought. They were in Kim's room, her real room, which had less stuffed animals but everything was a soft pink color and looked like it hadn't changed much since she was about four.

Kim threw a doll at him. "No! I want to tie Sirius to my pony, Ivan the Terrible. I'll smack Ivan's fat butt, and he'll go crazy, and Remus will have to rescue Sirius! And then they'll love each other again!"

"That is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard." Harry looked out the window to see Fred and George along with everyone else playing Quidditch with a bunch of house elves. "And how would you even get Sirius on the pony?" She sagged in defeat. "Plus I think you're worrying for nothing."

* * *

Severus didn't know whether he should pack his things and head straight home or demand to know where Elizabeth lived or just wait until tomorrow to talk to her. He couldn't believe that she would withhold such important information. He had a daughter. A daughter, who was around the same age as those snot nosed brats that he had to teach.

He hurried over to the window, hopping the fresh air would stop that sinking feeling in his stomach. He had only slept with her one time. Did he use a contraceptive charm? Obviously not. The girl, Stella, may look more like Elizabeth than himself, but she had his eyes…eye. It was black, cold, and merciless like his own. At least her long black hair didn't inherit his greasiness. Shaking, Severus couldn't help but remember that night.

_Severus couldn't get over what he had just seen at the Apothecary. He never thought he would have to deal with this, at least not for a few more years. She was too young. Lily was too young. What had that bastard Potter done to her? "What's up, Sev? You look like you just saw a dead body or Dumbledore naked or something." Elizabeth was sitting on his sofa in his London flat, completely relaxed and flipping through the latest _Witch Weekly_ like she owned the place._

_ "I saw Lily," he gasped out. Something flashed in Elizabeth's eyes whenever he mentioned Lily, but as always, it was gone before he could figure out what it was. "With Potter…"_

_ Elizabeth threw the magazine over her head. "They're married, Sev. You have to get over her." She looked at him hopefully. "They are plenty of other girls out there." She twisted her hair with her finger nervously._

_ "Lily's pregnant." Elizabeth blinked in surprise but then shrugged. "She's barely twenty years old!"_

_ "So? It's not like she's sixteen or can't afford it or is unstable or something. And I'm sure Potter is still drooling all over her. Lil's fine without us, so it's time that you be fine without her." Elizabeth hopped over the sofa and gave him a hug, resting her chin on his shoulder. "Please?"_

_ Severus tried to nudge her off, but she won't budge. "Liz, j-just let go."_

_ She looked up and kissed him softly, ignoring his surprised flinch. "Why should I?" Severus tried to ignore the fire in his veins as she started unbuttoning his black shirt. "It's not like Lily's going to bust through these doors and demand your affections."_

_ Severus sighed as she started to roughly push him to his bedroom. "Because I don't have feelings for you but know what it's like to not have them returned."_

_ "I'm not asking for your love, Sev. I'm asking to spend the night." She smirked as she unbuttoned his pants and pushed them down. "I'll work on the love part later."_

_ Severus couldn't help but be shocked. Elizabeth always made jokes about them getting together but never did anything like this. When she jumped on top of him after roughly pushing him on the bed he noticed she reeked of Firewhiskey. _So that's why…_ Still, Severus found himself not wanting to stop her. He always found Elizabeth attractive, but she just…wasn't Lily. Severus didn't know if he'd ever stop loving Lily, and he shouldn't take advantage of his only remaining best friend because of it. Still, for some reason he couldn't find it in him stop her, and found himself kissing her back as she hastily started taking off her own clothes._

_ The next morning, Severus found himself consumed with guilt as she snuggled up to him. "I love you," she said quietly, making him only feel guiltier._

_ "I'm sorry," Severus mumbled hoarsely._

_ She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Sorry for what, love? I've been waiting for this ever since puberty." He tensed when she called him love. She was never going to forgive him for this._

_ "I can't do this." He could see her world crashing down on her as he said this._

_ "Why? Because of Lily? Well, I'm sorry Severus, but she'll never love you!" Tears filled her golden eyes. Elizabeth desperately tried to grab his hand, but Severus, almost robotically, pulled away. "But I've always loved you!"_

_ "Which is why I can't do this to you, Liz! I'm sorry. Last night should've never happened."_

_ "I've stuck by you all this time!" she shrieked. "I've even gotten this, for you." She showed him her right arm to reveal her Dark Mark. "Why can't I ever be enough?"_

_ Severus stared at the black snake coming out of the skull and her slightly irritated flesh around it. "Why did you do that?"_

_ "To be close to you!" Tears were streaming down her face. "To be close to you in one of the many ways she wouldn't. But look what that's got me." Severus reached out to touch her. "No! Don't touch me ever again, Severus!" She quickly gathered her things and ran from the room._

Severus closed his eyes at the painful memory. Yes, he would definitely be talking to Elizabeth tomorrow.

* * *

Remus frowned when he tore himself away from the library to attend dinner. "Where's Sirius?"

Harry straightened up and looked at Kim, who was fiddling with her spinach. "What did you do?"

"I need them to get back together!" Kim pounded her fist on the table. Draco frowned. What was she talking about now? It was obvious the Black and Lupin were just close friends. She pouted. "I tied him to the diving board."

Mad-Eye threw his fork down. "Let's get him. Who knows what's lurking in this house?" Draco rolled his eyes and started eating.

Everyone else headed to the pool room while Kim told them proudly, "I levitated him up there while he was sleeping so I wouldn't have to climb the ladder and conjured ropes from all the way down here!"

"You are so grounded," Remus muttered when he looked up at the fifteen feet ladder to see Sirius tied to the bottom of it, snoozing away.

"What exactly does that mean?" she asked curiously.

"You'll find out as soon as I get Sirius down." Kim started cheering as Remus rolled his eyes and climbed up the ladder.

Remus flicked his wand to release Sirius from the ropes but later on decided that it would've been better if he had woken the man up first. Sirius didn't wake up until he splashed into the water and started flailing his arms around like a maniac. Gasping for air, he swam to the edge of the pool and yelled in an accusatory voice, "Who did this?" Harry held out his hand to help Sirius out.

"Remus had to be your knight in shining armor so you guys would get back together!" Kim said cheerfully.

"We were never broken up!" Remus called out halfway down the ladder.

Kim threw her hands up in the air. "Well, why didn't you say so?"

"Because I did!" Sirius snapped. "Now I'm going to have to get changed before dinner!"

She grinned. "I needed to hear it from both of you!" Sirius scowled. "Don't worry! There's a blow dryer in the bathroom on the second floor!"

Once everyone was finally back to the table, and Sirius was grumbling about how that blow dryer burned his hair, Cole decided to make his grand entrance. Ginny was the first to notice and dropped her fork. The clang shut everyone up, and Remus instantly turned green at the sight of him but was too transfixed with horror to leave.

Cole swayed a bit as if he were exhausted. He looked up at everyone as if not really seeing them. But that wasn't what stunned everyone into silence. He was covered in blood. "Molly, drink, now." The house elf quickly poured him a goblet of wine. Cole blinked wearily at everyone. "My informant backed out. I couldn't let him squeal like the pathetic swine that he is…was."

"So you killed him?!" Ron asked frightfully.

"Of course I killed him!" Cole roared as if he were already drunk. He told a big gulp of his wine and dug into his steak. "What do you expect?"

Kim handed him a napkin. "We expected you to come tumbling in here, laughing at us, and not acting like…well, a lunatic."

He stared at her with hopeless eyes until a light bulb went off in his head. Then he started laughing like, well, a lunatic. "I'm so glad you're here, little cousin!" Harry couldn't help but think that was a terrible warning of what was to come.

* * *

Harry was finally finished unpacking his things when Ginny snuck into his room the next morning. She smiled coyly at him. "Mr. Potter, do you like my new scarf?" She climbed into his lap and wrapped the leopard print scarf around his neck. "Sylvia is giving away all the stuff that she doesn't feel like lugging home."

"It is rather interesting, Miss Weasley," Harry mimicked the over the top British accent Ginny was using. She used the scarf to pull his head closer so she could kiss him. Harry smiled against her lips but jumped when he saw a white flash.

Ginny jumped off of Harry so fast that she almost fell to the ground. Cole was smiling triumphantly at them with a camera in his hand. "I thought I was going to catch Draco and Kim, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity like this!" He chuckled to himself. "I'm sure the Weasleys and maybe even Sirius would keel over and die at the sight of this."

"What do you want?" Ginny looking like she was trying to kill him with all the anger in her eyes. She was just itching to curse him, but then he might tell everyone what happened, even if she managed to swipe the camera from him.

Cole didn't bat an eye at Ginny's death glare. "Not much. Just…If I…or Kim acts a little funny, the two of you have to cover for us."

"That's it?" Ginny asked suspiciously. Harry was too embarrassed for words right now. "You two always act more than a little funny."

Cole shrugged. "Anything out of the ordinary, that makes people say, Huh, what are they up to? Deal?"

Ginny sighed. "Deal." Harry nodded.

As Cole was leaving, he found himself being hounded by a fellow black haired man. "When is she coming over?" Cole frowned. He was being very demanding.

"Who? A girl and her Muggle parents, Hermione, I believe, are going to be here tomorrow. They're driving here since they were vacationing in New York, so—"

"Elizabeth, you dolt!" Severus spat.

"She likes to sleep in," Cole said slowly. For some reason, he was starting to believe that Severus didn't like to joke around. "Probably around lunch again. I've got the key, so she'll probably high tail it out of here in a few minutes."

"I need to speak to her." Severus decided to try his best to be patient. This kid had shown up to dinner covered in blood last night, so he knew that Cole wasn't someone to cross.

"Well then I guess you'll have to follow me around all day until she shows up." Cole started whistling on his way to breakfast. "She was six months pregnant and dirt poor when she showed up here. She started off as a nanny to Calvin. Russell wanted him to have more human contact since Mary started drinking after Sylvia and Sylvester was born. But after Stella was born, he decided that he would rather have her for himself." Severus felt torn between resentment and guilt. Why didn't she tell him?

* * *

Elizabeth nearly decided to pack her things and go without the money, but she didn't want to have to struggle again…or have to depend on another man. Besides, it wasn't like Severus didn't know. That much was clear from the look on his face yesterday. Of course Stella insisted on coming, and Elizabeth didn't want her to think anything was out of the ordinary. Maybe Severus would be too furious to want anything to do with them. She knew he was going to flip out on her, and then Stella was going to do the same once she found out. Elizabeth swore when she saw Severus, looking awfully bored in the stables while Cole replaced the horseshoes on Kim's pony. "Go swimming," Elizabeth softly told Stella. "It's hot today." Severus whirled around at the sound of her voice. Stella frowned but turned around and left. Maybe Kim would be swimming too, and she could drag her to the bottom. "What happened to your arm?" Cole put the last horseshoe on, slipped the key in her hand, and hurried off to start plotting.

"That's all you have to say to me?" Severus covered up the hurt he was feelings with coldness. "I may not have loved you, but that gave you no right to hide this from me."

"Well what was I supposed to do?" she snapped. "You were knee deep in the Dark Lord's shit, and I was close to being right beside you. And I'm sure you would have told me to get rid of her because I wasn't Lily!"

"I would have married you," Severus said quietly.

"Oh, even better!" she yelled sarcastically. "Stuck in a loveless marriage while you either tortured and killed for the Dark Lord or went out to find the occasional redheaded prostitute."

"If you thought so lowly of me, then why would you lie down and conceive a child with me? Why would you have stuck by me after I called Lily a mudblood? Or better yet, why did you even befriend me in the beginning? It had to be more than the fact that you were Lily's friend first. If not, you wouldn't have grown to hate her because of me!"

"Because you were always there for me." Elizabeth bit her lip. "Or at least I thought you were. You even stuck by me in sixth year when I slept with Black." She laughed without humor. "I don't think he even remembers."

"I couldn't help how I felt." Severus found himself unable to look her in the eye. "But that didn't mean I would've been cruel to you because I didn't love you. You were my best friend."

"Are you going to take her?" Elizabeth went out of her way to stare into his black eyes.

"Excuse me?"

"Are you going to take her from me, since you never knew her?"

"No." Severus closed his eyes for a minute. "But I would like to meet her. Talk to her, maybe visit once in a while."

Elizabeth tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She wasn't going to fall in love with him, not again. "Fine. I need to buy a new dress for the funeral anyway. She's at the pool, probably causing trouble or fighting with someone." She walked away in the other direction.

* * *

Stella found herself being harassed at the pool by some red haired, freckled boy. "Hello, my name's Fred." He blushed as he held out his hand for her to shake. She gritted her teeth. Maybe she shouldn't have put on that black bikini that barely covered her.

Stella rolled her eyes and said in a deadpan voice, "I'm a lesbian." She grinned with satisfaction as the boy faltered.

Unfortunately, Kim popped her head out from underwater and yelled, "No, she's not! I took a picture of her kissing a boy once and put it in the school paper!"

"That was you!" Stella shrieked. "He broke up with me because of that!"

"See she likes boys," Kim pointed out.

"You bitch!" Stella jumped in the pool and trying her best to drown Kim when Severus showed up. She was holding Kim's head down while the girl kicked and scratched.

Sylvia blew the whistle that she had around her neck. "Lifeguard Sylvia does not approve!" She ran from the lounge chair that she was half asleep in and cannon balled right on top of them. There was a tangle of teenage girls for about thirty seconds before they all resurfaced. "Play nice!"

"I would," Stella snapped. "If she was dead!"

"I will get you back one day, Sea-Hag, mark my words, I will seek vengeance!" Kim swam away silently to find a wet noodle to whack Draco with.

Sylvia laughed. "I guess I'll be breaking up another fight soon enough."

Before Severus could get in word, Fred asked, "So do you want to…do something? Like, I don't know…prank Kim?"

"No." Stella glared at him. "I don't prank her. I hurt her. Buzz off Carrot-Top."

Fred opened his mouth to reply, but Severus beat him to it. "I need to talk to you. And no, not you, Weasley." With a frown, Fred sulked off back to George.

Stella looked at him warily. "Why?" Her mom promised that she wouldn't see anyone else until she graduated. There was no way Stella was going to approve of this guy if that's what he was asking.

She felt triumphant when the man fidgeted. So he was nervous? Good. "It is rather important. Your mother will be taking you home in a few hours, and I don't know when I will see you again..." He trailed off.

Stella rolled her eyes. "I'm stuck going to the funeral so you'll see me then, but whatever, I'll talk to you, even though I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Sadness flickered through his eyes when she referred to him as a stranger.

When she got out of the pool, Severus looked away because of how scantily clad she was but not fast enough to not see the smirk on her face. _She won't be smirking in a couple of minutes._ Thankfully, Stella covered herself with a towel and waited for him to lead the way. Not exactly knowing where to go, Severus decided on a nearby parlor. She looked at him expectantly. "It is rather complicated…well, not complicated, difficult, I think is the better word. It is rather difficult what I have to tell you." He had trouble continuing.

"Are you Severus?" Stella asked softly, making him tense. Suddenly, her eyes became hard. "Uncle Tobias was yelling at my mom once about someone named Severus. I think I was, like, seven. She refused to give in to whatever he wanted so he backhanded her and left a handprint on her face. You look just like him, just not so old." Severus felt the color drain out of him. His father seemed to taint everything that was part of his life, even if he himself didn't know about it. "My mother cursed him, but since he was a Muggle, she went to prison for eight months." Stella put her chin in her hands, enjoying his discomfort. If he had the audacity to try to date her mom, she was going to make him squirm. "So who are you, Severus?"

Severus narrowed his eyes. She was relishing this. Well, two could play at that game. "Your father."

Stella felt her eyes bug out, so she quickly did her best to look normal. She wasn't going to give him this, not after knowing absolutely nothing about him for so long. It wasn't like her life was awful without him. It was the fact that he didn't give a damn about her. So Stella simply looked away and muttered, "Took you long enough."

"I never knew of your existence." Severus didn't like her attitude. It was too much…like his.

Stella snorted. "And why should I believe you? Believe that my mom would do something like that? She was there for everything, and you were there for nothing," she spat.

"There is nothing I can do about that," Severus stated. "However, I would like to get to know you better."

"England's cold, I hate the cold," Stella said as if that settled the matter.

Severus took a deep breath. "What happened to your eye?"

"What happened to your arm?" She wasn't going to tell him anything. She didn't think he deserved it.

"A Death Eater blew it off." Severus knew he had to be patient. Maybe she could floo to Hogwarts on weekends, or he could return to the States during the holidays. He just needed to start things off. "I knew of his true identity, so he hit me with the Reductor Curse."

Stella raised her eyebrows. "Cool. How old are you?"

"Same age as Elizabeth. She's about seven months older, actually." Severus had a feeling this was going to go on for the rest of their time together.

And he was right. "Where do you work?"

* * *

When Elizabeth returned with several shopping bags three hours later, she could practically see the smoke coming out of Severus's ears. Stella was definitely trying his patience, and her father's was definitely wearing thin. She twirled her finger in her hair. "So let me get this straight…Your least favorite student is this Longbottom kid, even though Kim nearly killed you last year?"

"Because he is a dunderhead!" Elizabeth smiled, knowing that Severus must have said this at least five times.

"Yeah, but that just reflects on your teaching skills." Elizabeth bit her knuckle to keep from giggling. Severus will definitely not like that.

"Some students are just unteachable!"

"What kind of teacher says that? If you were a _good_ teacher, you would have turned him into your best student just to prove that everyone is teachable. And then you would get movie deal. So I suggest you just hate Kim and throw her out of the class, and then you'll have the patience for the other kid."

"Time to go," Elizabeth interrupted. She couldn't tell if Severus was relieved or upset to know that time was up.

Stella turned around and stared at her. "Mom!"

They stared at each other for what felt like a long time. To any passerby, it looked like they were having a friendly starting contest. They didn't have any anger or defiance in their eyes. They just stared… until Elizabeth gave in. "Fine."

* * *

"I never explained to Kim what I meant by grounded," Remus said nervously as Sirius started taking off his pants. "Really Padfoot, this isn't our house. Someone could just barge in. This place is so heavily warded that we can't use locking charms—Aaah!" Sirius flicked his wand to toss Remus onto the bed. "I thought you hated me yesterday."

"Nonsense, Moony, you were just being a git." Sirius hopped onto the bed next to Remus. "Too bad I was unconscious for, how did she put it? You being my knight in shining armor."

Sirius pinned Remus's arms at the base of the bed and just as he started to kiss Remus fiercely, he heard. "Get out. This is my room when I stay over. And you better not have ruined my cashmere sheets."

Remus groaned and mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like, "I told you so."

Sirius yelped and fell off the bed. Looking up, he saw Stella. "You!"

"Get out of my room. You can stay on the fourth floor. Or in the barn. I don't give a fuck. This is my room." She tapped her foot impatiently.

Sirius stood up and said breathlessly, "We will if you promise to be nice to Kim."

"No. Get out before I make sure you never have sex again." Remus raised his eyebrows. She was definitely Snape's daughter. "I'm staying until you abominations to magical kind go back to England. So get out or I'll really make you regret it. I know who the house elves buried in the backyard."

Sirius sighed as he and Remus started packing their things again. Or at least watching as magic did it for them. Sirius decided that for once he agreed with Kim. Stella had better not come to Hogwarts.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	4. Rescue Mission

Chapter 4

Cole could only stare at his mother and her boyfriend when they FINALLY returned home. "I asked you to go to the store for mini-powdered donuts two weeks ago, and you come back with two children."

Cecily shifted four year old Abigail to her other hip and reached in to her purse to hand him the donuts. "Stop whining. I've got your junk food."

"Oh, okay." He shrugged, took the donuts, and walked away.

"That's your brother," Cecily whispered when the little girl hid her face in her neck. "He's just spoiled rotten."

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Did you adopt, Sweetheart?"

She nodded. "I had a very hard time conceiving Cole, let alone carrying him. I nearly died."

"BABIES!" Kim ran up to them, dragging Draco behind her.

"This is Isaiah." Darwin bounced the one year old in his arms. "And my lucky lady is holding little Abigail."

Kim stood on her tippy toes to look at Abigail. "Do you want to have a tea party?" she whispered. The brown haired girl regarded Kim warily, before nodding shyly. "Draco! Take Isaiah! We're playin' today!" Draco looked horrified at the thought. Isaiah, however, was not as shy as his sister and reached his hands out for Draco to pick him up.

"He's a smart little boy." Darwin couldn't help but chuckle as he handed Isaiah to Draco, who held him as if he were holding a bomb. Isaiah had light brown eyes and flaxen hair.

Abigail didn't want to be held, so she opted to walk and cautiously held Kim's hand as the raced up the stairs, Draco trailing slowly behind. "Are you sure that was a good idea?" Cecily looked up the stairs anxiously.

"We've had them to ourselves for two weeks, _wife_." Cecily smiled at the word. "I think it's time we've had our rather short honeymoon." Giggling, Cecily ran up the stairs at her husband's words, making everyone repulsed when he smacked her bottom running up the stairs.

"Uh!" Ron gagged. "This is why they're all nutters!" They were sitting in the living room having a chess tournament. "They grew up with those two! And they were the good ones!"" Harry couldn't help but agree.

* * *

Ever since she was six, Kim had refused to have a tea party without hot chocolate or ice cream. Tea was for old people in her opinion. "Do you like gummy worms?" She was met with Abigail's wide dark green eyes and a silent nod. "Good! Molly!" The house elf was gone in a flash and returned with every sweet imaginable.

Meanwhile, Draco and Isaiah were staring at each other, Draco nervously and Isaiah indecisively. Finally, Isaiah reached over and yanked at Draco's hair. He wouldn't stop giggling at Draco's indignant, "Ouch!"

"Is likes that you guys matches," Abigail said quietly. She pronounced her brother's name like "eyes".

"Draco needs a haircut," Kim said seriously. Abigail stared at him for a minute and nodded solemnly. Draco folded his arms and grumbled that he did not, only making Isaiah laugh harder. Kim handed Abigail a tea cup, glad that the girl smiled when she brought it to her lips, and it was cold with ice cream.

* * *

Draco was thoroughly exhausted by the time lunch rolled around. Kim made him give Isaiah a piggy back ride while she taught Abigail how to ride a rather fat pony. It still made him smile at his girlfriend's determination. "Okay. This is my old helmet! It saved my life millions, maybe even billions of times! It will keep you safe." The poor girl looked scared to death while Isaiah pulled Draco's hair to make him walk alongside the pony. They walked at a rather slow pace for two hours until Mrs. Weasley tracked them down for lunch.

Once at the table, Cole came up to Abigail and rested his chin on the table near her plate. "You won't touch my action figures, will you?" She shook her head frantically. "Good. Then I accept our kinship." He got up, ignoring his mother's scowl and headed to his seat at the head of the table.

Kim shook Draco's sleepy form halfway through the meal. "Wake up! We have to feed the horses after this!" Draco yawned and simply shook his head no.

"I'll go," Cole said quietly, as if he were debating whether to do something important or not.

"In that suit?" Mrs. Weasley asked, which was her way of telling him she thought he should change.

To test them, Cole looked pointedly at Harry and Ginny who flushed. "I-I think that one always needs to dress…for unexpected business meetings," Ginny said without much confidence.

"Er, yeah," Harry added. "One must always better ready for business." Sirius gave him a funny look, but Harry saw Remus laughing into his potato salad. Hopefully he wouldn't ask what they were being blackmailed about.

Kim threw her fork on the table and yelled, "Let's go then!"

Once they were off, Draco asked suspiciously (jealously), "How old is he?"

"Twenty-two," Cecily answered. "Although I have to say sometimes I wonder if he's five or a hundred."

* * *

About an hour later, Hermione arrived with her parents. She looked sadly around the house as her parents offered their condolences. Since Kim was nowhere to be found, she said, "I'm so sorry," to Sylvia.

She looked at the ground. "No one else is. I think they honestly could care less. But they were still my parents."

"Don't worry about how they feel," was all Hermione could think of to say. "Just focus on getting through this yourself."

Sylvia sniffled and nodded. "Kim wanted to put a bed in the library for you. I told her she was being silly."

Hermione grinned. "Depends, how big is this library?"

* * *

Harry was looking around the library with Hermione two hours before dinner since she hadn't come out since Sylvia showed her the room. There were a lot of books on the Dark Arts, making Harry think that there at least must be some on Defense. If the Pendragons were so concerned with hurting and killing people, then they must want to know how to stop others from trying to hurt or kill them as well. Sirius was there too since Remus was and was currently trying to find a book with pictures in it.

A book at had a ruby in the middle of the spine caught his eye on the other side of room. All the other books looked dusty and old, making Sirius fake sneeze to get everyone's attention every once in a while. Reaching for it, he barely noticed Hermione call out, "No, don't—"

Much like the book Hagrid got him for his third year, the book started attacking him, attacking his face because Harry was too surprised to try to stop it. He heard Sirius yell in the background as Remus pried the book off his face. Harry sat up gasping for air. "Thanks."

Hermione ran up to him. "I was trying to tell you! The books on this side of the room are cursed. Kim said only purebloods can touch them. She said her uncle was removing the curses, but then he disappeared."

Sirius held out his hand to help Harry up. "I think we've had enough of books for one day." He touched one of the dozens of small paper cuts on his godson's face. "Maybe you should put something on them, so they don't get infected."

"I'm fine, Sirius," Harry mumbled. He had thought Sirius was getting over this by now.

"Fine? You almost got eaten by a book!"

"Well, now I know not to touch it!"

"But what if the pages had poison on them or something?"

Harry could only stare at Sirius. At this point, the man was starting to sound like Mad-Eye. "It's a book," he said slowly. After Sirius gave him a look that said, _So?_, Harry decided it was time to tell Sirius what he had been dreading for months. "You have to stop worrying so much, Sirius. You're kind of smothering me."

Harry expected Sirius's reaction to be a lot of things, and none of them were pleasant. He thought Sirius would cry, have a fit, curse him out, or turn Uncle Vernon purple and be quiet for a few days. What he didn't expect was Sirius to shrugged and say, "Tough. I won't stop until you get married."

"What?" Harry looked at Remus, wondering if this is a joke.

"Yeah. When you get married, that will be your wife's job. Did you know that married men live longer than single men?" Sirius started to walk away. "I'll get you some disinfectant."

Once he was gone, Harry turned to Remus. "Don't be surprised if I get married the moment it's legal." Remus and Hermione took one look at each other and started laughing hysterically. Harry narrowed his eyes. They were supposed to be on his side.

* * *

At dinner, Hermione couldn't help but tsk at all the house elves. Even though they were all in fine white sheets, they were still slaves! She couldn't believe how many there were. And that her father seemed to be enjoying their service! "The food is rather delicious, don't you think? Maybe we should get a house elf!"

"Dad!" Hermione said incredulously. "They aren't servants! They're slaves! It's wrong."

Molly looked at them with her icy blue eyes and replied, "Maybe for you, Sweetie. But this is our way of life. If we didn't like it, we would rebel like goblins." Hermione clamped her mouth shut, ignoring the smirks from Ginny and a black haired girl with one eye she didn't know.

Sirius decided to segue from one awkward conversation to the next by asking Sylvia, "What exactly are your credentials?" Harry felt his jaw drop in horror. The damned book started everything up again!

"Credentials?" Sylvia spoke slowly as if she didn't know what the word meant. She had absolutely no idea what Sirius was talking about.

Sirius nodded. "Yes. You've dubbed yourself the lifeguard. Do you know CPR? Basic first aid? How to contact emergency services?"

Sylvia pretended to be thinking about this. "One time I rescued a baby bird that fell out of a tree."

"So if someone was drowning, you wouldn't have a clue about what to do?" Sirius frowned, wondering if he should take over the lifeguard duties. Harry wondered if Sirius knew how to do those things he just listed, considering upset he was that Sylvia didn't know them.

Stella sneered. "She jumps on top of people when they're drowning." She waited for Kim to argue that Stella was the one drowning her, but the tiny girl wasn't paying attention. To solve the predicament, Stella decided the best course of action was to kick her in the shin.

"Ouch!" Kim picked up a fork to fling at her but felt like her insides shrivel up at the death glare that Severus was sending her. "She kicked me!" she tattled indignantly. "Now I'm going to have an ape foot sized bruise on my shin!"

Stella picked up a butter knife to fling at her nemesis when Mrs. Weasley decided it was best to try to change the subject again. She turned to Kim and asked, "Why were you so…out of it, Deary? You look paler than Bill before he took his NEWTs."

Kim's eyes widened, and just before Ginny was about to cover for her like Cole said, she burst out, "What are we serving for the funeral next week?" Harry started laughing at her randomness until Ginny elbowed him in the ribs. As Kim knew, her question immediately started an argument.

"Daddy liked pork chops," Sylvia stated.

"But nobody else does," Calvin shot back.

"You're just saying that because you don't!"

"We've done nothing to plan this thing, and you're going to argue about pork chops?"

"Yes because you're being an ass!"

"I think we should serve what Aunt Mary would want instead," Cole chimed in and grinned. "Booze! Booze! And more booze!"

Calvin stood up from his chair. "You shouldn't be allowed to pick since you're the one who killed them!" he snarled.

The whole room became silent. After a few minutes, Cecily looked at her son sadly. "Cole?" Tears filled her eyes when he looked away. She knew of her son's callousness but never enjoyed hearing about it. Instead of saying anything else, Cecily turned to her frightened daughter and her sleepy son. "How about we eat upstairs?" She hurried her children up the stairs without looking back.

Cole took a deep breath. "My informant said that he would give me Agatha back if I let them in and let the pack think he found a way past the wards."

"But you-you killed him because he didn't give her back!" Sylvia immediately started crying. "So you killed my parents for nothing!" she sobbed.

"Oh, don't give me that crap!" Cole snapped. "They paid so little attention to you that you would sleep with a guy if he so much as held the door open for you! And not to mention the violence! You were better off without those pigs!"

"How dare you?" Sylvia whipped out her wand. "You deserve to go to prison! I'm calling the aurors!"

She headed for the door until Cole said nonchalantly, "Do that and I'm bringing her with me." He pointed at Kim, making Sylvia stop in her tracks. "That's what I thought. Now be a good girl and sit back dow—AAAAAAAAAAH!" Cole immediately fell out of his chair and started twitching on the floor. Harry could tell instantly that Sylvia had cast the Cruciatus Curse on him. After about a minute, Cole stood up and glared at her. "Are you done? Because my father was a Pendragon too." He sounded a bit breathless. "I can do this all night."

"Can you guys shut up?" Kim said grumpily, interrupting everyone's stunned and fearful silence. Hermione was going to hate explaining this to her parents tonight. "Cole, if I go to prison, then I better get celebrity treatment." She frowned at the fact that Stella and Severus both rolled their eyes at the same time. "It's bad enough I have to eat a vegetable at every meal in this dump."

Sylvia stormed away while Cole simply shrugged and said, "Okay."

"Bonkers, all of you!" Ron's eyes were popping out of his head. At the Hogwarts everything dramatic happened in the Hospital Wing. Here it seemed everything dramatic happened in the dining room. "If you want my opinion, you should have that chicken with the lemon in it for the funeral."

"You mean lemon chicken." Stella's tone told everyone that she thought Ron was an idiot. "We should have salmon." They spent the rest of dinner arguing about what to eat. Remus banged his head on the table when Sirius joined in, and everyone ignored, or at least tried to ignore, the fact that Sylvia just used an Unforgivable on Cole while Cole threatened to send Kim to prison for killing his father. Maybe they should have stayed at home after all.

* * *

Draco had just put a pair of pajama pants on when he heard his door open. He whirled around. "Excuse me! I may not own the place, but you could still knock." He tensed up when he saw Stella in a lacy nightgown. "Oh great," he mumbled.

"You're Kim's boyfriend?" she purred.

"Yes. So get out." Draco turned around and tried to ignore her but started freaking out when she snaked his arms around his waist from behind. He felt her laugh silently behind his back. "Uh, remember how I told you I had a girlfriend? That means no touching. Not even a handshake. Hell, I wouldn't even held you up if you fell in a mud puddle" Draco gritted his teeth when she didn't budge. It was clear that Kim hated Stella. So therefore, Draco hated her by default.

"How about we get to know each other a little better? Severus told me that you're his godson. That means we should be close." Stella knew that this would break Kim's heart, but she felt she deserved it since she was responsible for Stella only having one eye. They had more than a rivalry. They despised each other.

"How about you go find Weasley?!" Draco had no idea how he was going to push her off since she was behind him. Would he be labeled as someone who hits girls if he slammed his back and her against the wall in an effort to remove her? Draco sighed. Even though he was a teenage boy, sometimes he hated girls. "I don't want anything to do with you!"

"Draco, I want to talk to…you." Kim became quieter with each word. Draco froze. Great. Just fucking great. Of course Stella immediately let go, smiling. Draco turned around slowly to see Kim's wide eyes. She took a step back.

"Wait!" But she was already gone.

* * *

Kim knew that Stella had done that on purpose, and that Draco probably had nothing to do with it, but either way, it still hurt. There was no way she was going to talk to Draco now, meaning that there was no way he would be able to talk her out of what Cole was asking her to do, especially because of the position that she caught him in. Therefore, she snuck into Sylvia's closet and got ready for the night.

* * *

After Draco threatened to tell her father about what happened and Stella told him to go for it, Stella found herself wondering about the house, searching for something to do. A few hours later, once she took a walk around the grounds, she decided it was time to tell Kim that after she left that Draco had cheated on her. Stella wondered if the boy would be able to convince Kim otherwise. It would be rather interesting to see how teenage love worked itself out. She had had boyfriends, of course, but Stella had never been in love, and she found the often undefinable emotion fascinating.

Knocking on Kim's door with a smile on her face, Stella waited for a moment, but heard nothing. No crying, no threats, nothing. Curious, Stella opened the door and was a first disappointed. Kim was gone. Her disappointment disappeared, however, when she remembered that Kim wasn't an orphan even though Russell and Mary were dead.

Skipping merrily to the fourth floor, Stella couldn't help but giggle. The one with the long black hair came off as rather hysterical to her. This time when she knocked on the door, it was answered. Sirius blinked at her sleepily. "What? Don't tell me this is your room too."

"No, not at all." Stella smiled superciliously. "It's just that Kim isn't in her bed. Or anywhere in the house for that matter." That last part she wasn't so sure about, but it would be funny for them to be searching for her if she was stuffing her face in the kitchen. Sirius looked like he was about to have a heart attack. Excellent.

* * *

Kim was so scared that she felt like she was going to throw up. She had never been in this part of Philadelphia before, let alone in a sketchy bar like this. Even worse was the fact that she was wearing more makeup than she had ever worn before and that she was in one of Sylvia's skimpy black dresses. Cole said he was lurking in the shadows, but that didn't give her much comfort since she couldn't see him and had no idea if he got lost or something happened to him. "What can I get ya?" the large bartender demanded harshly, looking at her like she didn't belong here. _That's because I don't, _Kim thought, hardly able to contain her terror.

"I-I'll have a-a beer." It was slid to her instantly, even though it was clear she was way under the legal limit. She handed him a galleon with a shaking hand. "K-keep the change." This wasn't a Muggle bar. It belonged to werewolves. The bartender nodded and walked to the other side of the crowded, noisy bar.

He spotted her first, even though she was supposed to be looking for him. He couldn't believe his luck. Fenrir was going to be so proud. Lupin's smell was clearly on the girl. It was her. "Hello. I never thought I would see you here."

Kim spat out the sip of beer she was trying to choke down. "I was sup-supposed to meet some friends here. Bu-but they never showed. I've never been here before." She felt like such a baby. Her lip was even quivering. Harry had killed a basilisk, and she couldn't even have a conversation with a werewolf without stuttering.

Logan tried to nod in understanding, barely able to contain his glee at finding out she was alone. She looked like a screamer. "How about I take you some place quieter?"

"I-I don't know." Cole had told her to eventually give in but that if she acted too eager that Logan would know something was up. "I'm shouldn't even have snuck out…"

Logan's dark blue eyes lit up. So that meant nobody at home knew she wasn't sound asleep in her bed. By the time they noticed she was gone, it would be far too late. She would be his broken little toy. "Oh, it's alright. We all make mistakes. How about this? I'll call you a cab, and we can wait in the bathroom, where it's nice and quiet." Sniffling and shaking like a leaf, Kim nodded and whimpered as if she had just signed her death certificate. The sound excited Logan to no end.

He slammed her into the wall the minute they were inside the grimy bathroom. Leaning against her so she couldn't kick him, Logan bit her shoulder so hard she bled and screamed so loud her ears rang for a moment. "According to Pack Law, that means you belong to me, you worthless piece of trash." He was getting ready to start laughing triumphantly when he felt something pierce his back.

Cole grinned when Logan fell to the floor, and bent down to rip a clump of his hair out. "It's not silver. And I stabbed you where it would take a while for you to die." Logan was in too much pain to speak. "I need you to be alive for Polyjuice." After Cole drank the potion, and he became short and stocky with Logan's brown hair and dark blue eyes, he picked the dying man up by the front of his shirt. Logan groaned in pain. "Now, let's find out where you've stashed my love. _Legilimens!_" Once Cole got all the information he needed, he threw Logan on the floor, grabbed Kim by the arm, and commanded, "Let's go!" They were finally going to do it. They were finally going to get her back.

* * *

Sirius sat on the sofa with his face in his hands. They had searched they entire bloody mansion four times, and there was no sign of Kim. They even checked the stables. The house elves were searching the surrounding small forest. It was as if she vanished. "Sirius?" Harry said so only he could here. Sirius grunted to show he was listening. "Have you noticed that there is only one person who hasn't shown up to look?"

Sirius jumped out of his seat. "No, no, no, no. There-there's no way! I don't understand! Where could they be?!"

"What is it, Sirius?" Remus looked at him worriedly while Sirius felt his heart sink. He had forgotten to mention to Remus what Cole had told them before. That Greyback's beta wanted Kim to be his mate in some twisted revenge scheme. Harry cringed, knowing that Remus was going to freak out.

Harry had also forgotten that Draco was there too when Cole had explained this all those months ago. Beyond furious and pink in the face, he yelled, "That son of a bitch is using her as bait!"

* * *

Cole held her tightly as they walked downstairs to the underground area that Greyback was keeping the pack. To anyone looking at them, it was Logan being possessive, but Kim knew he was trying to make her feel safe. It wasn't working.

Greyback walked up to them in awe while his mate Olivia prowled in the background, suspicious. "Logan! Where did you find her?" Kim felt the wound where Logan bit her from start to burn. She was beginning to feel feverish.

"I found her wandering the streets," Cole lied smoothly. "She got separated from her friends." Greyback and several other pack members laughed. Olivia wasn't one of them. She looked like she could see right through the Polyjuice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to claim my mate."

"Not before the full moon?" Olivia inquired. "How unlike you, Logan." For some reason, the blonde woman reminded Kim a bit of Bellatrix. It must be the cruelty, the total, unwavering devotion to a monster, or simply the fact that she was out of her freaking mind.

Cole sniffed Kim's hair to hide the surprise in his eyes at not knowing that custom. "She's simply too tempting." Without another word, Cole headed for the makeshift hut that was Logan's. Where he knew Agatha was sleeping. He ignored the fact that Kim's skin on her shoulder felt like it was on fire.

He practically tossed her aside when he saw Agatha, bruised and very thin, sleeping on a mat. He picked her up instantly and forgot for a moment that he didn't look like himself. Agatha's eyes grew wide with fear at the sight of him, making his heart feel like a burst balloon. "Don't worry. I'll get you home soon. And then we'll get married." Her eyes widened. She knew it was him.

And so did someone else. "I thought so." Olivia stood in the doorway. "You're Alex's boy."

Cole bit the inside of his cheek. "Shit." At lightning speed, he took out his wand to form a circle around himself, Agatha, and Kim that would insure they could apparate away safely.

He grabbed Kim's hand, but Olivia wagged her finger at him. "Too slow." She lunged for him, but Kim blocked her path, letting go of Cole's hand just as he was apparating away. He screamed out in frustration when he was back at his Uncle Russell's mansion, without her.

* * *

Kim looked behind her in disbelief when she heard the pop of Cole apparating. She was all alone. She didn't have much time to dwell on it though, because for the second time that night, she was slammed against a dirty wall. "Logan may be dead, but don't worry, I don't mind sharing Fenrir." Olivia leaned over to whisper in her ear, "And he won't mind sharing you." Even though she felt so feverish that she thought she might pass out, Kim did want she was foolishly too fearful to do two years ago. She transformed into her animagus form.

As usual, a little worse because she hadn't done it in a while, Kim screamed as her bones snapped and broke to change into a lion. Olivia watched in both shock and fascination until Kim was finished. Then she started clapping. "Well done—" Kim lunged for her, putting her large paws on the woman's shoulders to push her to the ground. They struggled for a while, clawing at each other silently. But clearly, a lion was stronger than a middle aged undernourished werewolf when the moon wasn't full. Once Olivia was out cold, she ran out back up the stairs as fast as she could.

She ran as far as the coatrack before painfully changing back. She couldn't go out into the city as an animal. Then no one would help her or she would be stuck with animal control and get in trouble with the Ministry. Since she ripped all her clothes after turning, Kim hastily grabbed a trench coat off the coatrack and slipped it on, turning around to see everyone in the bar staring at her.

* * *

Cole winced when he saw all the lights on. He knew he would be in deep shit the moment he stepped into the house. But when Agatha groaned in his arms, he knew he had to be brave and walk inside. Struggling a bit, Cole reached into his pocket to grab a small vial filled with a foul smelling, clear potion that will make the effects of the Polyjuice go away. Taking a deep breath after gulping it down, he kicked at the door until someone opened it.

Draco ripped open the door. "Where the Hell—?" Cole pushed passed him as the stunned boy looked for Kim.

"DARWIN!" Cole hollered. "I am in need of your assistance!"

"I'm right here my boy! No need to shout!" Darwin stopped in his tracks at the sight of Agatha. "She's alive," he breathed out.

"Yes, barely!" Cole snapped. "So fix her!" Unfortunately, he lost his only ally when Darwin hurried away with Agatha hovering behind him to heal her. He turned around slowly to see what felt like a thousand eyes boring that were into his back. Cole waved fearfully. "Hey guys! Are you all up for a late night snack?"

"Where is she?" Cole flinched. Remus really did look like a werewolf when he looked at him like that. He took a step forward, and for the first time ever during a confrontation, Cole took a step back.

"Ha, ha, ha," he laughed nervously. "Well, funny thing really. I was apparating away, and she let go of my hand, and…"

"YOU LEFT HER THERE!" Sirius screamed.

"Not on purpose!" he quickly replied.

Remus advanced towards him, but thankfully, Cecily said coldly, "Touch my son, and I'll inject silver into your spine." Knowing that she meant it, Remus stopped in his tracts, very reluctantly. "I would ask why, Cole, but I'm sure I won't be happy with your excuse."

"I couldn't let them know that I knew where they were. They would be out of there before I could get to the building!" Cole quivered under his mother's disappointed stare. "I-I had to get her back, Mom."

"At the expense of others?"

Harry was getting annoyed. They were wasting time. "Why can't Lee track her?"

Cole blinked. "What?"

"Lee said the tattoo he gave her as a prank all those years ago was like marking her as his betrothed, and that he could track her with it. He said it shouldn't matter that they weren't engaged anymore. But he can't locate anymore." Cole looked past Harry to see Lee staring at a map on the coffee table. Harry glared at him. "Is it another funny story?"

Cole wondered if it was time for him to make a run for it. Looking away he said, "Because Logan marked her by biting her on the shoulder." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Remus collapse onto the sofa. "He'll bleed to death soon. Lee will be able to find her then."

"So she's a werewolf?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

"No," Charlie said hoarsely. "That's impossible unless it's the full moon." He suddenly looked uncertain. "Isn't it?"

* * *

Kim let out a blood curdling scream as they started chasing her down the street. She knew if she didn't put enough distance between her and them, she would be worse than dead in a matter of minutes. Luckily, one of the few things she had in common with Harry was that she was very fast. Sprinting as fast as she could, Kim found herself on the crowded summer South Street in less than ten agonizing minutes. But she feared the Muggles couldn't help her. They wouldn't know how since they didn't know what werewolves were, let alone about Greyback's notorious pack. But they could defend her. There were so many people that it just might work.

Screaming one more time, Kim ran in front of a moving car and wailed as the lights blinded her. She was on the pavement in a matter of seconds, too afraid to feel much of the pain, and a Muggle crowd formed around her. Defeated, Greyback's pack slinked back into the shadows. The last thing she heard was people shouting to call 911.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I'm thinking only two or three more chapters for their time in America. So anyone who's sick of it will have to wait a week or two! :) Please review!**


	5. Mothers from Hell

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Sorry for the slight delay, but this chapter was a long one. I'm trying to get back to England for those of you who are sick of all these OCs!**

Chapter 5

Cole disappeared into the room he knew Agatha would be in after he counted how many people wanted to kill him. Darwin came down an hour later, saying she was asleep and would be just fine. He didn't have to mention that Agatha was infected with lycanthropy. Everyone assumed so since she was held captive with the pack for over two years.

After about another hour, Lee made everyone jump when he exclaimed, "Aha! I found her!" Then he frowned. "She's in the driveway?" He squinted at the image on the map that only he could see. "Isn't that odd, Charlie?" But when he looked up everyone was gone.

Everyone crowded around the ambulance, wondering how the paramedics knew to come here when a rather handsome tall man in his late fifties hopped out of the driver's side. Darwin held out his arms. "Brother!"

"Brother!" The two total opposites hugged each other. "I figured this one was more your area of expertise since she had a tail." The man chuckled just like Darwin always did, but Harry was surprised to see Cecily roll her eyes.

"So she's alright?" Remus asked quickly.

Darwin's brother shrugged. "She ran in front of a car. Luckily it wasn't going too fast. She broke both her legs, and her pelvis, and a few ribs. And she has a rather nasty bite on her shoulder."

Darwin clasped his hands together. "I can fix her up in a jiffy! Hand her over, my dearest brother, so you can get back to work." Within a few minutes, Kim was moved from the ambulance's stretcher to the one that Darwin conjured.

"I'll see you later then." Both brothers waved to each other before one drove away.

"My brother, Roman, is a Squib, you see. So he's a paramedic. If he ever finds someone who is clearly a magical being, he brings him to me. Saves the Ministry a lot of time and money," Darwin told them proudly as he lit up his wand to check Kim's pupils. "Hmmm, a small concussion too…and perhaps a bit of a fever," he added, feeling her forehead.

"But she will be alright?" Remus asked. He couldn't take his eyes off the irritated looking bite mark on her shoulder.

Cecily put her hands on her hips. "Of course she will be. Darwin is the best healer in the world." Her new husband beamed.

* * *

Kim was surprised that she woke up in her room and not the hospital…or dead. She was also surprised that her bones were mended, not in casts. She looked over to where she saw Remus, Sirius, Harry, and well, a whole bunch of other people, crowded into her room and sleeping. Sadly, she was too stiff to run away. She was going to be in so much trouble.

Still, she had to pee and needed help getting up. Kim surveyed the room. Who was the least likely to yell at her? Fred or George? No, they'd wake everyone up for the fun of it. Charlie? If he got up then he'd wake up Lee. Sighing, Kim picked up a stuffed zebra and hurled it at Ron, being careful not to hit Hermione, who looked like she could turn over to cuddle him at any moment. Ron blinked at being hit in the head. "Wha—?"

"Silence!" Kim hissed. Ron stared at her with wide eyes. "Help me get to the bathroom so I can pee!" Ron frowned, debating whether or not to wake everyone up. "Or I'll tell Mrs. Weasley that you're helping Fred and George!" He immediately scrambled up to help her.

Draco was just waking up when he saw Kim walk in, leaning on Ron. "What the hell Weasley?" he yelled. And, of course, everyone else woke up soon after. "And you!" He pointed at Kim. "You could've died!"

Kim tried to smile. "On the toilet?"

"I think we've had enough of you acting stupid for a lifetime," Sirius said harshly.

Kim glared at him. For some reason, Sirius saying that really ticked her off. If it had been anyone else, she had a feeling it wouldn't have bothered her as much. "But you would've done it for my dad…James, I mean." Sirius stayed silent. "She's my family, and even though she always made me do my homework, I still love her."

Remus sighed. "Get back into bed." Kim fidgeted as Ron awkwardly placed her back in. Remus was supposed to always be on her side.

Since no one else was talking, Harry told her, "The funeral is in three days. You'll be able to get out of bed by then." Kim pretended like she didn't hear him and laid in bed pouting. "If it's any consolation, you won't turn into a werewolf."

"What idiot thought that?" Half the room shot her a glare. "Only on the full moon, you poopy faces!" she said in the tone Hermione had while tutoring her.

Remus ignored her. "Here's how grounded works. For the rest of the summer, every time you leave your room after seven until seven the next morning, a charmed alarm is going to go off, loud enough for everyone in the house to hear. Then you will be escorted, hopefully not by force, back to your room."

"But what if I have to go to the bathroom!" she squeaked.

"Then you can explain that to the warden," Sirius told her cheerfully.

"Ugh!" Kim yanked at her hair. "You're going to regret it!"

"I highly doubt it." Remus couldn't help but smile at her pout. "You had us all worried sick." He petted her hair softly on the head since she was too hurt of a hug. Remus was glad she didn't turn away in anger.

She looked up at him and said half-jokingly, "I'm not a dog."

"Oh, sorry. Your tail threw me off."

"WHAT?" Kim folded her arms over her chest. "Damn it."

Stella, who was walking by for lunch, poked her head in the door. "Hey look! Strawberry-brain's awake!"

Kim reached out as if she could strangle her if she just stretched fast enough. She yelped when she aggravated the bite mark on her shoulder, making Stella run away laughing. Fred grinned. "If only we could get that mean streak out of her. She'll be one of the best pranksters out there!"

Lee grinned, ignoring Kim's _don't you dare say it_ expression. "She already is! One time, Kim fell asleep at lunch, and Stella used a spell to make her lose all her hair. Kim didn't notice until she went outside, and the wind didn't make her hair go in her face." Lee was nice enough not to add that when people were laughing at her all day, that she thought it was for her usual weirdness.

"You sir, are a snooty traitor ,who not only sniffs butt, but old cheese as well!"

"You mam, are a feather brained catnip licker, who goes on adventures with someone who wears a suit to go bowling."

"I licked catnip one time! Why can't you ever going to forget it?"

Ginny got up and stretched. "Well, now that you are well enough to be silly, I think it's time the rest of us got some food in us."

"Amen to that!" Hermione could only shake her head at Ron.

Kim made to sit up, but Sirius pointed to her and said, "Stay put. _We_ are eating in here."

"But—"

"But you can barely walk. You're staying put." Sirius and Kim glared at each other for a while until Sirius turned heel and said, "I'll bring everything up." Kim screamed with outrage when she heard him lock the door behind him.

Draco walked to the edge of her bed. "That's what you get! Do you know how worried I was about you?"

"Ugh! Leave me be! I'm going to be hearing this for the rest of the summer every time I have to take a piss after seven!" Kim flopped flat on the bed. "Ouch! I feel like shit!" She opened one eye to see Draco's unwavering angry stare and not the guilty lovesick expression she was hoping for.

"You deserve it," Draco said bitterly. "What if you never came back?" First his parents were God knows where, and now Kim risks her life for somebody that he never even remembered her mentioning. He would definitely feel lost without her. The only reason he tolerated everyone else was because of Kim. All his other friends' parents were Death Eaters, so there was nowhere safe for him but with her. If she was gone, he'd feel too out of place with the Weasleys.

"I always come back," she replied stubbornly.

"And if not we would've tracked you." Harry smiled at the confused look on her face. "The tattoo you have apparently can be used to locate you at any given time."

Kim pursed her lips and widened her eyes. Remus emerged from where he was washing his face in the bathroom to hear her shriek, "HE'S BEEN STALKING ME ALL THESE YEARS!" After a moment of silence, he decided it was safe to take his hands off his ears. He sighed. Some things never change.

* * *

After lunch, when Kim's house elf Molly was helping her shower, Harry saw Agatha for the first time, well, conscious for the first time that is. She had a toffee colored complexion and dark brown hair that was ten times curlier than Hermione's. She was tall, almost, if not the same, height as Cole, and rather thin. Agatha peeked in from behind the doorframe. "Sorry. I thought she was in here."

"She will be in a few minutes." Sirius grinned evilly. "She's on lock down until the funeral."

Agatha nodded absentmindedly, fingering all of Kim's old toys with a small smile on her face. When she got closer to Remus she stopped in her tracks, sniffing the air. Her breath hitched when she got close enough to catch Remus's scent, and she ran for the window, eyes filled with terror. She covered her nose as she opened the window, and then stuck her head out, retching. "I'm sorry, you smell like…"

"Greyback bit me when I was a small child," Remus said in a strained voice. "I can leave for a little while if you want me to." Agatha shook her head, curls flying in all different directions. "Are you sure?"

"YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Agatha spun around with a crazed smile on her face that eventually turned into a genuine one. Sirius sighed sadly. "Of course I'm up, Silly. And you've kept me waiting!"

Kim's eyes widened. "I had to take long! I'm all beat up!"

"So I was wondering if you were going to stay for my wedding." Kim nodded quickly. "It will be a few days after the funeral." Agatha pouted. "Your one friend said I was working the house elves too hard."

"Hermione thinks all house elves should be free," Harry said, hoping Hermione didn't start a fight. "She argues with everyone about it."

"Don't worry. I cried, and then she left me alone." She winked at him before turning back to Kim. "Your other friend has told me a bit about of your last two years." Agatha gave Kim a look that Mrs. Weasley often gave to Fred and George. "You refused to learn the Patronus?" Sirius smirked when Kim started fiddling with her hands. "I'm very disappointed in you."

Kim put her hands behind her back to hide her shame. "But—"

"No buts," Agatha said sternly. "You had no right to act like that."

Agatha stared Kim down while she squirmed for about ten seconds before bursting out, "Fine! I'll learn it!" Sirius gaped. He was never able to get Kim to so much as sit in on lessons, but this girl got Kim to agree to learn the charm in less than five minutes.

"That's what I thought." Agatha giggled and gave Kim a big hug. "I'll see you later with the bridesmaid dresses."

* * *

A few hours later, Sirius and Kim were playing chess when Darwin came in to check on his patient. Kim was concentrating on the board, her face screwed up in concentration which reminded Remus strongly of James. Harry was off playing Quidditch. Apparently the house elves were rather good. "Move the knight," Darwin instructed. Sirius groaned. Kim hadn't even known that she checked him.

Once Sirius's king was dead, Kim threw her hands up in the air and yelled, "YEAH…Ow!" Whimpering, she gripped her arm.

"I'm giving you an antibiotic potion today. It took a little while to find all the ingredients in that huge warehouse your father called a brewing room." He started removing the bandages. "Funny thing really, but most people bitten by werewolves in their human form usually have symptoms because of the bacteria in the saliva of their attacker. A short temper or cravings for undercooked meat."

"Gross! And my temper is normal by the way." She pursed her lips and looked between Remus and Sirius, daring them to say otherwise. Remus smiled and nodded in agreement.

Darwin frowned. "That's rather…unexpected. I was getting ready to set up Anger Management Classes in England," he mumbled absentmindedly. When he took off the bandages, his frown deepened. "Did you take anything? Or even use a simple disinfectant?" Kim shook her head. But that wasn't right. He thought her infection would be, should be, much worse. He had made the most powerful potion he could, thinking that her flesh would've started blackening by now. But he saw the bite mark was actually starting to heal, and the bandage was covered in… "Pus?"

Kim looked at her shoulder and wrinkled her nose. "Why'd you have to say it? I wouldn't have looked if you didn't say it!"

"And you had a fever when you first came home…" Darwin's voice sounded distant, as if he were on a different planet. Before Sirius could ask what was up though, the healer returned back to their world. "I need a sample of your blood!" After thinking for a moment, he turned to Remus. "And yours!"

"Are you a vampire?" Kim whispered and then giggled at her own crappy joke.

"If I was a vampire, his blood would kill me!" Darwin tried to contain his glee. A new experiment! How exciting!

"I suppose," Remus said cautiously. "May I ask why?"

"In a year or two, my boy! I'll go get the syringes!" He ran off chuckling while Remus was trying to think of what the man could possibly be up to.

"Are you sure about this Moony?" Sirius scowled at Darwin's retreating figure. "I mean, you do need your blood, both of you. And Kim is just getting better. And he forgot to tell us how much of this potion to give her!" He pointed at the small black bottle on her night stand.

Remus shrugged. "He's always there when we need him." He felt his mouth twitch. "Remember Sirius? You thought Harry was a zombie." Sirius sulked at Remus making fun of him but decided he would bug Darwin about it later.

* * *

Later that night, Harry returned after dinner to find Kim shaking Sirius. "Please! Please! Please let me out of bed," she fake sobbed. "I'm so bored! I'm going to get bedsores! I'm going to turn to jelly!" Remus was reading in the corner, trying to ignore her.

"You should have thought of that before you ran in front of a car," Sirius tried his best to best stern while being shaken like a bobble head doll. "I know you grew up Pureblood but haven't you ever heard of looking both ways before crossing the street?"

Kim stopped shaking Sirius and blinked at him. "Of course! I ran in front of the car on purpose."

Remus looked up and slammed his book shut. "You did what?" Harry wondered if now was the time to inch out of the room. However, curiosity got the best of him. Why would she do that?

Kim waved her arms dramatically, trying not to wince. "I was being chased by, like, a dozen werewolves! I knew they would go away if all these Muggles were watching me and calling for more to come and help me."

"A lot of help that would've done you if the car had killed you," Harry mumbled. He noticed Sirius stare off into space, thinking of all the possibilities. "You could've cracked your head or broken your neck! Sometimes people die instantly from car crashes."

Kim bit her lip. "I was scared! And all alone! I don't know how to apparate!"

"Which is why you shouldn't have gone in the first place," Remus said in a tone that was restraining anger. "Promise that you'll never pull a stunt like that again!"

Covering her face with her hands, they heard her responded with a muffled voice, "But what if you all get captured or someone is attacking you or something be happens, and it's all up to me!"

"That's different." Harry was trying not to let Sirius bark out something mean like he knew his godfather was just itching to. "This time it wasn't all up to you. Any one of us could've helped. Even Dora. She's an auror and could've been in disguise as you. _And _she can apparate."

Kim opened some of her fingers to reveal her eyes. "Fine! If isn't all up to me, then I promise not to go on anymore adventures."

"And if it's all up to you, may God have mercy on our souls," Sirius muttered bitterly. Harry winced. He just had to say it, didn't he?

Kim bolted up. "You know what, Sirius?! I'm leaving." She limped a little bit when she walked to the door. Yanking on the knob, she screeched, "WHY DID YOU LOCK IT? I NEED TO DO SOMETHING REBELLIOUS!"

"Because you're grounded." Remus gave Sirius an annoyed look. "Sirius, be nice. It's not like you haven't done things ten times stupider. And I think it's time we left _you_ to get some sleep."

"What?" Kim spun around, eyes wide. "In the dark?"

"Yes," Remus said slowly. "I suppose you could leave the light on if you wanted."

"Leave it on!"

* * *

Ron was heading to the kitchen for a late night slice of cheesecake when he felt a shadow loom over him. He turned around slowly to see Cole staring down at him. "Bloody hell! You scared the crap out of me!"

"You are a man who knows how to handle money, correct?" Ron felt like if he wasn't truthful, that sooner or later, Cole would hunt him down.

"I suppose. I help Fred and George keep track of things with their business." Ron gulped as Cole considered this. Fred and George weren't expected to actually open their business until late next June.

"So if I were to invest with you, I could trust you." Ron nodded and yelped as Cole clapped his hand on his shoulder. "I have a plan. Are you willing to hear me out? And not swindle me?" Again Ron nodded, knowing that things would not be pleasant if he didn't. That was when they heard Kim's screams.

* * *

Everyone was in her room by the time they got there, making Ron wonder if someone managed to break into the house, but from the looks of things, she was only having a nightmare. Since no one was budging, Stella strutted over to Kim's bed and kicked it. "Wake up! You already woke everyone else up. You have the lights on, why are you screaming?"

Kim shot up from her bed, eyes wild, and screamed, "She's going to get me!" She looked around to see she was in her room. "Oh." Trying not to cry, Kim turned away from everyone and blushed. "Go away please."

"Take some potions and you'll be fine, Squirt." Cole grinned as she whipped her head around to glare at him.

Unfortunately, someone else was glaring at him too. "This is all your fault, you bastard!" Sirius snarled. A few sparks flew out of his wand, which he was gripping so hard that his knuckles were white.

"Go away please!" Kim said a little louder, but everyone ignored her.

"It's not like I forced her," Cole replied defensively. He rolled his eyes and headed off to bed, ignoring Sirius calling him some rather creative names.

Stella bent over and pinched Kim's cheek. "Aw! Does the wittle baby need some warm milk?"

Kim slapped her hand away. "No! I need you to fuck off, Bitch!"

"And I need you to stop cursing so much," Remus said wearily. Stella smirked smugly and skipped away. "Are you going to be okay tonight? I'm sure Ginny or Hermione wouldn't mind staying with you."

Kim bit her lip. Every time she closed her eyes to go to sleep she kept seeing the headlights of that car. "I-I just want to be left alone." She felt so embarrassed. She had woken the whole house up. Remus looked at her sadly and gestured for everyone to leave.

* * *

Draco was up early the next day having some tea when he noticed Kim out of bed. He had had trouble sleeping lately, worrying about his parents. And he had slept into the afternoon while waiting for Kim to wake up yesterday so his schedule was completely off. She was wondering around, looking bleary eyed at a bunch of paintings. "What are you doing out of bed?" Draco said softly. He couldn't help but smile when she squeaked and spun around.

"I can't sleep," she grumbled, rubbing her burning eyes. "I just want to go home." Before Draco could say another word, she climbed into the blue armchair that he was sitting in and curled up on his lap. "You're my date for the wedding."

"Wedding?" Draco felt her nod into his chest. "How can you stand being here?"

"I like to pretend that things never happened," she whispered and then yawned. "Don't you fall asleep too, I'll go bald and hair will grow back blue."

"What?" Draco wondered if she was delusional from lack of sleep. Still, there was no way he could fall asleep with her on top of him like this.

"Worst contract ever." Draco tried to get more details, but once she finished her sentence, Kim was sound asleep.

After a few hours, Draco started to feel achy and was half tempted to push his girlfriend off of him. _That's what I get for waking the house elves at 4:30 in the morning I suppose._ Unfortunately, Black and Lupin were the ones to find him at nearly eight. Black glared at him. "Get off my goddaughter," he growled. Lupin looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"Hey! She's the one who crawled on me!" Draco told him indignantly. "She couldn't sleep."

Black gritted his teeth and walked away, appearing a few minutes later with a glass of water in his hands. Before Draco could protest, he dumped the icy contents of Kim's head, smirking when her head shot up in terror. "Draco! Did you just spit on me?" Lupin started laughing in the background.

"I did not! Malfoys don't spit on people," he huffed. "Black doesn't want you in the position you are currently in." Draco felt his cheeks heat up.

Kim looked around frantically with wide eyes until she spotted Sirius. "This better not be spit!"

"Stop being gross and get up," Sirius commanded. "What part of grounded do you not understand?"

She stretched, wincing a bit. "Remus left the door unlocked, and I was too scared to go back to sleep, and then I saw Draco and realized I needed company!"

"Company like that will get you a family of four before you finish Hogwarts." Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius's words while Draco frowned with offence. Malfoys did not procreate before marriage.

Kim pouted at her dripping, wet hair. "Babies, babies, babies! Why are you always worried about me having babies?! What are you going to do when I actually have one?"

"Punch Malfoy in the head until he suffers too much brain damage to create another."

Kim crawled off the armchair so she could stare her enemy in the eye properly. "I'm going to have so many babies that Mrs. Weasley will be shocked!" Draco looked at her in horror. He didn't even want _one_, and she was referring to having about a dozen.

"I'm not sure how that is going to work because you wouldn't be having sex until I'm long dead," Sirius said seriously.

"Not true! Not true! Not true! I just have to grow some more!"

"That's the only thing that's stopping you!" Draco tried to stop his voice from cracking… and failed.

"If I have a baby now, I'm so tiny I'll snap in half!" Kim squeaked fearfully. "And I probably should finish school too," she added thoughtfully.

Sirius stared at her as if she head just told him she saw Snape wearing a tutu and nothing else. "I need coffee before dealing with her, Moony!" he whined and walked quickly out of the room.

"I hope you were just teasing him." Remus grinned at how pale Draco looked.

"Of course!" Kim smiled, clawing at her wet hair. "I'll stop teasing him when he has a heart attack… or at least until he recovers."

* * *

After breakfast, Calvin, Cole, and Sylvia sat Mrs. Weasley, Severus, and Remus down to plan the funeral. "We've decided that you are the most responsible people in this house!" Sylvia told them cheerfully.

"The funeral is in two days, and you've planned nothing." Remus couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice.

"We would've waited until trash day, but Grandmother's coming along this evening." Cole shivered. "She still blames me for that time she woke up with no hair." Calvin smirked, making Cole eye him suspiciously.

"Anyway," Sylvia snapped, still justifiably feeling hatred towards Cole. "We have the place because they were preparing the bodies so they would be presentable for an open casket. But we still have to pick the room we want the service in, the restaurant for dinner afterwards, the caskets, the interior of the caskets, the preacher, and what to put on the headstones."

"And that is where you three come in," Calvin said with a smile. Mrs. Weasley and Remus gaped while Severus simply glared at them, got up, and left the room. "Oh…well, that is where the two of you come in."

Meanwhile, Sirius decided that since he didn't trust Sylvia being a lifeguard that it was now his duty to make sure no one drowned. Kim, who was happy to be temporarily out of her pink prison for sort of good behavior, beat him with a raft when he said that the deep end was off limits. Thankfully, she gave up once he got distracted by Fred and George throwing Harry off the diving board, and Ginny pushed him in the pool with his clothes on. After that, she embarked on a new mission. "I-I am not ticklish!" Draco managed to breathe out between laughs.

Kim tickled his ribs again. "Then why are you laughing so hard?" She giggled when he started to run away, immediately chasing after him.

"Hey! No running! You could slip!" Lee dunked Sirius underwater before he could continue, making Sirius think that one lifeguard wasn't enough for these animals. Regrettably, the person who came to his aid strongly reminded him of his mother.

Adina Pendragon gave Kim an icy stare that froze her from the inside out. She stopped in her tracks, making Draco nearly slip when he stopped too. "Lucius's son?" Draco gulped and nodded. "I always thought you would soil a good Pureblood name." Sirius started to make his way out of the pool. "I was going to have you married off to Tobias the moment you turned seventeen to prevent that, but Russell would have nothing of it, and this is how you repay him?"

"How dare you?" Draco glared at the woman verbally assaulting his girlfriend. She must have been in her late seventies, and maybe she was once beautiful, but Draco could only see ugliness in a woman who relished in having such hatred rule her life.

Her brown eyes looked dully at him. "How dare I? My son and his wife are not even in the grave yet, and their spoiled brat of a daughter is running around with you," she spat. "Both of my sons are dead, and my daughter killed my husband. And you all are having a happy little party at the pool." Draco's breath hitched when he saw something flash in her eyes. Something told him that she would hurt him, rather badly, if given the opportunity. _I suppose this is why Father said to never have contact with her._

"Is there a problem?" Sirius was half tempted to call this woman Walburga.

"Adina Pendragon." She didn't even attempt to hold out her hand for Sirius to shake. "The one who would have ripped Kitty from your little blood traitor paws if Mary hadn't given you those custody papers," she told him sweetly. "How much would you pay to get her back? And how long would you have been willing to wait?" Kim started shaking until Draco grabbed her hand.

"It doesn't matter," Harry said coolly. "Because you don't have her and never will."

Draco shuddered. There was that flash in Adina's eyes again. She obviously wasn't used to children not fearing her. She took a step towards Harry, frowning when he didn't take a step back. Sirius already had his hand on his wand. "Oh I know, my Darling Boy." She gripped Harry's cheeks with her index finger and thumb. Harry's eyes widened as smoke started coming from her fingers. It was all he could do not to scream from the burning. "There's no need to get smart with me."

There were several flashes of multicolored light, making Harry believe that several people in the room tried to hex Adina, but when the light was gone, she simply stood there, completely unharmed. "A shielding charm does sure wonders. It's something one learns after raising three children. Now, I want to make myself clear. I do not appreciate Muggles, mudbloods, and werewolves walking free in my son's house."

"Then leave," Sirius fumed. He sent a stinging hex her way, which she blocked with a smirk.

"Not a chance. I have to play the part of the grieving mother. What I want is for your little wolf to take Cole's little wolf away. I have plenty of suitable brides for him." She spun her wand in her hands as she spoke, waiting for Sirius to agree with her and for everything to go her way.

Harry ignored the fact that his cheeks were still smoking. "Cole said he was the head of the family now. So it doesn't matter if you don't like Agatha. He's marrying her next week."

"What did you say?" Adina breathed out in horror. The diving board suddenly collapsed, and the surface water of the pool became icy. Ron, who was closest to the pool, shivered at the sudden drop in temperature.

"You heard me," Harry stated bravely, ignoring the state of the pool room behind him. He was surprised when her eyes suddenly brightened and her mouth twitched. Looking like she just one the lottery, Adina started laughing hysterically and quickly left.

Kim looked crossly at them. "You guys just tried to hex an old lady! A grandma even! She baked cookies with us!"

"Those were some good cookies," Lee said dreamily. "My favorites were the chocolate chips! You can't beat the classics."

"She burned my face!" Harry could feel Sirius staring at him with worry.

"Maybe we should go home," Sirius said apprehensively. Draco practically wanted to start cheering. Yes! Yes! They needed to go home. Then this nightmare can finally be over.

"But we have to stay for the wedding! What else could possibly go wrong?" Kim gave Sirius puppy eyes.

"Plenty," Sirius drawled in a deadpanned voice that secretly reminded her of Professor Snape. "I'm not going to tolerate that piece of shit you call _grandmother_."

"But-but my bridesmaid's dress is so pretty! It's purple and Ginny and Hermione and Dora and even Mrs. Weasley are bridesmaids too!" she wailed. "We have to stay or Professor Snape will kill me because I'll cry on the whole plane ride home!"

Sirius glared at her. "I have to talk to Remus about this." He started to storm off but stopped in his tracks after a few paces. "First, let's get you fixed up, Harry," he muttered sadly.

"Why's Mum a bridesmaid?" Ron asked once they were gone. "And Ginny and Hermione for that matter? Agatha hardly knows us."

Kim shrugged. "She said it makes her look like she has more friends than she really has."

Sirius found Cecily before she found Darwin, playing dolls with her daughter. Agatha was changing Isaiah's diaper. Cecily frowned at Harry. "Is Adina here?"

"Yes. And if she doesn't leave, we are," Sirius snapped. "Where's your husband?"

Agatha smirked. "She'll be out of here by dinner. I promise..." She tickled the baby's tummy, smiling at his gleeful giggles. "Don't worry, it doesn't scar," she said to Harry.

"He's in the Potion's Lab." Sirius looked at Cecily blankly. "It's across from the library." He grabbed Harry's arm and stomped away, making Cecily huff at the slammed door. "You're welcome," she called out after him.

"Sirius!" Harry panted. His godfather was acting like Harry could drop dead at any moment and was yanking him all the way to the fourth floor library. "Slow down! It doesn't even hurt that bad anymore." But Sirius didn't stop until they were outside the room that Cecily said was the Potion's Lab. It had cold iron doors that reminded Harry of Snape's dungeons. Sirius pulled the doors open and practically ran inside. Harry sighed and followed him.

It was cold in there, and the only light was coming from a few candles. The walls were made of dark gray stone, and there were no windows. Darwin was in the middle of the room with thick glasses on, peering into a microscope that had a plug that was floating in the air. It had a magical bright spark around it, which was keeping the little light in the microscope on. "He has burns on his cheeks!" Sirius yelled, making the poor old man jump.

Darwin took off his glasses and blinked at them. "Adina's here already?" Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Oh well, don't worry. Cole will have her out soon enough. _Accio_!" A small light blue container floated toward him. "It will go away in a few seconds." He handed to Harry, who smiled appreciatively.

"And what on earth are you doing with Kim and Remus's blood?" Sirius demanded.

"Trying to win Order of Merlin, First Class," Darwin muttered, already getting back to work. "But it is proving difficult. It will take a few years, and lots of research."

"Care to elaborate?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"Nope."

Sirius growled, grabbed Harry and stalked away.

* * *

Kim was buzzing with excitement at dinner time. Sirius and Remus momentarily forgot that she was supposed to be locked in her room once she was done swimming, so not only did she get to try on her dress today, but she also got to eat dinner with everyone too. She was so hyper because right before dinner, Agatha rounded up all the girls to taste the different flavors of wedding cake. Some of the icing was so sugary that she was currently shaking. She got up to start running around. "Sit down!" Adina commanded, making her grand entrance. _What a buzz kill_, Kim thought silently, too hyped up to consciously be afraid. Her subconscious was looking out for her though, and she immediately sat down without thinking.

Sirius gritted his teeth. "I don't care how old you are! Don't talk to my goddaughter like that!" Remus couldn't help but agree. However, he decided to remain silent. From what he heard, Adina wouldn't be staying long, so the less he argued, the sooner she would leave.

Adina ignored him. "Cole? I've heard about you engagement," she said kindly. "So when are you going to turn over the funds?"

Cole raised his eyebrows. "I beg your pardon?"

"The American Ministry passed a law five years ago stating that if a child is born to a lycanthrope mother, he is unable to inherit his father's fortune." She grinned, twisting her wrinkles grotesquely. "So if you marry her, then any legitimate child you have cannot inherit the family fortune. Therefore, the money goes to the next eligible family member. Calvin has disinherited himself, and Sylvia was disinherited after spilling those nasty secrets. Kimberly was adopted, and Alex has never been declared dead, so Cecily had to divorce him to get remarried."

Ginny's jaw dropped. "So that only leaves you." Everyone else was too stunned for words.

But Cole simply chuckled. "I'm afraid that every law has a loophole." He got out of his seat, walking down the table. "If I marry a werewolf, then I also have the right to name a sole benefactor, who is of pureblood, of course." He put his hands on Ron's shoulders. The poor boy looked so nervous that one would wonder how he managed to stay calm enough to remain in the room with everyone staring at him in complete shock. "And I've found one. Upon his sixteenth birthday, Ronald Bilius Weasley, shall be given his key to our vaults, and I shall be CEO of the American branch of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!"

The room could have been so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, but Kim and Ginny ruined the moment by sobbing with laughter. "This is the best moment of my life!" Kim choked out, wiping away the tears that were running down her cheeks.

"Your life must really suck then!" Ginny joked in between giggles.

Cole looked at them like they slapped him in the face. "I worked hard on this speech you know!"

"There's no way! No way!" Adina said softly, but everyone ignored her, except for one.

"Did you think I was going to let you ruin everything?" Agatha grinned evilly at her. "I was working on a law degree before I was taken. I may be a little broken up inside, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you walk all over me. Now, if you will, Ronald." She gestured to Ron, who was started to sweat with nerves.

_Come on, Ron, you can do it. Just like we rehearsed. Don't be a blubbering baby like Neville._ "G-get out of my house."

Adina stared at him with wide eyes. This wasn't this a blood traitor's house. It was her husband's house, her son's house, a Pendragon's house. And it should now be hers. But there was nothing she could do. She'd talk to her lawyers in the morning before the funeral, but for now, she was out of options. This boy was currently the Pendragon heir, and whether he is a Pendragon or not, that meant that he had the power that a few moments ago, she thought was hers. "Very well," she said stiffly and walked away without turning back.

Mad-Eye grinned and took a gulp of Firewhiskey. "Ding dong the wicked witch is dead!" _If only,_ Sirius thought sourly.

* * *

"I'm telling you, Moony!" Sirius hissed as they prepared for bed that night. "We need to get out of there."

Remus sighed as he crawled into bed. "I want her to get some closure, Sirius. I don't want her to regret not going to her parents' funeral for the rest of her life."

"They aren't her parents," Sirius said through clenched teeth.

"But she sees them that way." Remus yawned. "The wards are strengthened now so that no one underage can leave the property without Cole's or Calvin's permission. We'll be home in time for their birthday, so you can busy yourself planning that."

Sirius got out of bed and stretched. "Whatever. I just can't wait until we put this behind us. I'll be back. I'm going for a walk." Remus nodded, already half a sleep.

Sirius walked around for ages, avoiding spots that he knew had bad memories, like the dungeon and the kitchen, and finding new spots to avoid, like what once was Mary and Russell's bedroom. It still had the bleachy after smell of too many cleaning charms. Was this where they were killed? Sirius shivered. At least one of them must have been. He didn't want to snoop around to find out.

After a while, he decided to be a 'creep' as Kim would call him and make sure everyone was sound asleep in their beds. He even checked on Malfoy, who's snores reminded him of a sleeping kitten. Snickering, Sirius pranced next door to Harry's room. "What are you doing up? It's one in the morning."

Harry jumped and knocked his book to the floor. "I had trouble falling asleep. I supposed you did as well since you're making sure I'm still alive."

"And not on an adventure to save Dudley from werewolves." Sirius grinned at Harry's grimace.

"They can have him." Harry smiled as he reached over to pick up his book on animagus transformations. "Although I'm sure they'll give him back in a week or so."

"I'm sure they would give him back sooner than that." Sirius took a minute to adopt a false fatherly tone. "Now go to bed, young man."

Harry mimicked a chastised son. "Will do, Dad! Just, please, don't tell Mum!" Rolling his eyes, Sirius shut the door behind him to go check on Kim.

He could see that she was having a nightmare by the distressed look on her face and the way her legs were twitching. She wasn't screaming yet, but Sirius remembered how embarrassed she was when she woke everyone up. Knowing that he was going to get beat up with pillows the next morning, Sirius transformed into Padfoot and hopped into the bed next to her. After a few minutes, she snuggled up to his fur and slept peacefully.

Draco didn't see Kim the next morning, so he felt it was his duty to check up on her. "What the hell, Black?" That mutt was sound asleep in the same bed with _his_ girlfriend. It was beyond inappropriate. "Get off of her!"

Padfoot sat up and looked around, wondering who woke him up. He was having a rather good dream. He was a dog, like he currently was, and was chasing a large red bird. Once he saw Draco though, he changed back. "What are you doing in my goddaughter's room?"

"Excuse me?" Draco said incredulously, ready to hex Sirius. "You are in her bed!"

Sirius tensed up when Kim sat up, still halfway in her dream. Rubbing her eyes, she mumbled while yawning, "What's going—?" She stood perfectly still when she saw Sirius as he braced himself. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Her scream was so high pitched that Sirius was surprised the windows didn't break. "Get out! Get out! Get out!" Sirius was hit in the head with pillows until he scrambled off the bed, landing right on his ass.

Draco had his wand pointed at him. "Did he do anything to you?"

"Oh for Merlin's sake, she was having a nightmare!" Draco ignored him.

"Of course not! He's gay!" Sirius felt his cheeks burn. Remus was never going to let him forget this.

"Is that what he's been telling you this whole time?" Red sparks flew from Draco's wand.

"Well, yeah! Because it's true!"

"Oh please. I'll believe it when I see it!" Sirius decided now was the time to make his great escape.

As he was leaving, Sirius heard Kim say to his dismay, "If you're into that, I may have to reconsider our relationship."

"That's not what I mean!"

Sirius met Remus coming down the hall. "What happened? I heard her scream."

"I never want to speak of it again." When Remus found out about what happened later though, he couldn't stop laughing, and as predicted, never let Sirius forget it.

* * *

Harry was having animagus lessons with Sirius, Charlie, and Lee when he saw Lee's mother for the first time. They were in Lee's spare bedroom when she entered without knocking. She was of Japanese decent and was about Mrs. Weasley's height but was rail thin. She had ebony hair and black eyes to match that looked at the occupants of the room coldly. Even though her facial features were very similar to Lee's (they had the same nose and eye shape), she lacked the warmth Lee had. He didn't seem to see this though. "Mom! You came to see me!" He sounded eager, like he was waiting for this all week.

Lee's mother looked at him sadly for a moment, but the sadness was gone as quickly as it had come. "I have something for you to sign. And then I have to go." Lee's smile quickly fell. She reached into her black leather purse and handed him a piece of paper.

He hastily took the paper out of her hand and read it quickly. "I-I'm being disowned?"

"But you'll get a thousand galleons a month until your father dies." She said this as if it made up for it, and Harry saw that sadness again, but it was gone when she saw Charlie grab Lee's hand.

"It's about him, isn't it?" Lee whispered once he could form words. He voice became louder and louder as he spoke. "You always pick him over me!"

"Maybe we should sit down and talk about this," Charlie said quietly. Sirius and Harry wanted to get up to leave, but Lee's mother was blocking the doorway.

"Because you can't control you abnormalities!" she snapped. Harry flinched, reminded of Aunt Petunia.

"It wouldn't be a problem if _he_ didn't have a problem with it," Lee yelled. "You know what? Give me the damned quill. I'll sign it." He snatched it out of her hand and signed the form so furiously that his name was barely legible. The ink glowed but died down once the magic of the contract confirmed it was Lee's signature. "God forbid you side with your own kids for once."

"Why should I? You contribute nothing to the family!"

"And he makes sure you have a nice fur coat every Christmas and a pretty little diamond for your birthday." Lee laughed without humor. "Why couldn't I ever be enough?" There were tears in his eyes that he refused to let go.

"Because you're a freak! I never would have wanted a son if I knew he was going to be like you!" She grabbed the contract, gasping in surprise when Lee slammed her against the wall.

"Lee-Lee, don't do this!" Charlie said urgently. But Lee already raised his fist, aiming at him mother's face.

But she didn't look afraid. She simply sneered at him. "Go ahead. Prove once again that you aren't a man!"

**A/N: Thanks for reading! The next chapter is the last one in America, and then back to Ootp plot! Please review!**


	6. Funerals, a Wedding, and Awkward Moments

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Last chapter in the US! I promise they will be going home after this, even if the ending of the chapter makes it look like otherwise! I think I'm going to go back to updating on Fridays from now on, so if the chapter isn't up by Thursday, it definitely will be up by Friday. I've had this story in my head for years, so I'm not going anywhere anytime soon! :)**

Chapter 6

Harry had to say this was one of the most awkward moments of his life. He wanted desperately to leave but didn't want to draw attention to himself as he exited the room. He was rooted on the spot, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Sirius was as white as a sheet. After a moment, Lee took a deep breath that sounded suspiciously like a sob and walked quietly away, letting his mother slide to the floor.

"Lee! Lee, wait!" Charlie chased after him, leaving Lee's mother alone with Harry and Sirius.

She looked down at her chest for a minute and took a deep breath. Popping her head up, she said with a smile, "Izumi Starkman! World's worst mother, world's best tattoo artist!" She stood up and wiped her eyes. "I have to go."

Once she was gone, Sirius muttered, "Bitch," under his breath and started pacing.

"Sirius…" Harry didn't have the slightest clue how to continue.

"If she's going to be like that, then he's better off without her. I know, I know!" Sirius was going to wear a path in the floor if he continued this. "It isn't fair though. Why should he have to go through that just for being himself?" Harry bit his lip, knowing that Sirius was probably talking about himself too. "I mean, is it really so horrible?"

"No, it isn't," Harry told his godfather quietly.

Sirius straightened up, as if hearing Harry for the first time. "You're damn right it isn't!" He ignored the funny look Harry was giving him. "Let's go. I'll continue with your lesson after the funeral tomorrow."

Sirius vaguely noticed Harry slink away as he headed to his own room. He threw himself face first on the bed, for once glad Remus wasn't around. The current memory that was engulfing him was too much to handle having to explain to Remus what was wrong.

_He was sixteen and about to go into his seventh year, which according to his mother, meant that he should be getting married by next year. "I don't understand why you have such a problem with Rosa Crabbe!" she snapped, already frustrated with the conversation that started two minutes ago._

_ Sirius grinned and went back to making himself a sandwich in the dining room. "Other than the fact that she has more hair on her face than me, she smells like she bathes once a century."_

_ "Every other girl I pick for you has one flaw or another!" Sirius's grin broadened as she started shouting. "How could Narcissa's cousin be too beautiful? WELL?"_

_ Sirius shrugged. "She wasn't my type. She kept going on and on about how much she loved children and baking. She was _trying_ too hard." Walburga snatched his sandwich out of his hand and threw it against the wall. "Oi! That's wasting perfectly good food." All the humor was gone when his mother pushed him roughly, trying to knock him down. Sirius felt his eyes turn cold as he grabbed her by her wrists. "I'm not a little boy anymore, Mother. I _will_ hit you back."_

_ Walburga laughed at him like he was an idiot. "I'm sure the authorities would love to hear you say that."_

_ "You wouldn't dare risk the family's reputation," Sirius retorted, letting go of her wrists as if they burned him. "I don't want to get married, and that's final."_

_ "Give me one reason! One reason why you don't want to get married!" she spat._

_ Sirius gripped the counter and wanted to kick himself as the truth came pouring out. "Because the kind of marriage I want isn't legal!"_

_ Walburga brought her thin, black brows together in confusion. "I don't understand. I'll send you to St. Mungo's if you are talking about love for a centaur or some other creature. They'll fix up such a sickness within a few weeks." Sirius shivered at the thought._

_ "No," Sirius said slowly. He felt like there was no turning back now. He was tired; tired of having to hide who he was, especially from a woman who he hated with all his heart. Why should he pretend to be attracted to women for her? She definitely wasn't worth it. "I-I'm…in love with a man."_

_ The silence was so deafening that Sirius could have sworn his ears were starting to ring. He could see his mother's mind working a mile a minute as she thought of what to say. "We can find a woman who will…put up with your…inclinations. I'm sure I can find someone who will give you a night or two a month to get it out of your system." Sirius gritted his teeth. There was no way he was going to be able to get his love for Remus "out of his system."_

_ "No." Such a small word never seemed so powerful. Sirius saw his mother's eyes widen. She never cared for such boldness. But what Sirius didn't expect was for her to reach for her wand._

_ "_Crucio!_" Sirius screamed so loudly his throat felt like it was bleeding. But as usual, his father never came down from his study, and his brother was out with is perfect pureblood friends. As usual, he was alone._

_ He felt like he was going to pass out once the curse was finally lifted. He was starting to feebly stand up, using a chair in the kitchen for support when his mother continued speaking. "I will not have you disgrace the family for your sick, twisted desires! No son of mine is going to be a—" _

_ "_Stupefy!_" Sirius stepped over her stiff figure on the ground. "I am no son of yours." The words lifted an incredible weight off his shoulders that he didn't even know was there. It was almost like…like he could breathe easy for the first time in his life._

_ He had his bags packed within fifteen minutes and was on Knight Bus to the Potters in less than five. He never saw his "family" again._

* * *

Kim frowned when she looked out the window, seeing Charlie chasing a big black dog before the dog changed into Lee and apparated. "What do you suppose that's about?"

Draco put his arms around her waist and put his chin on her shoulder. "How am I supposed to know? All you guys do is fight or do stupid things around here. So it's either one of them or both."

Kim spun around, smiling at how Draco still blushed when their faces were that close. "You'll be bored when we go home."

"No. I'll just have less to worry about." He kissed her softly. "You never apologized for what you did by the way."

Her eyes widen for a moment before Kim said coolly, "And I never will."

Draco frowned. "Then I guess I'll never apologize for this." Before Kim could dumbly ask what he was talking about, he scooped her up and walked over to her bed, ignoring her shrieks of delight and slamming the door shut with his wand.

Giggling, she lifted her arms up as he slid her shirt off. "If I lose my hair, I'll never forgive you!" she choked out in between laughs.

"What?" Draco frowned, feeling rather flustered, but that was the second time she mentioned that.

Kim started unbuttoning his shirt. "Why do you always wear these fancy dress shirts?" Draco shivered as her hands slid all over his chest. "Oh, and I signed a contract saying that if I have sex with you or sleep in the same bed as you, among some other things without talking to Remus and Sirius about it, then I'll lose my hair, and it'll grow back blue!"

Draco felt his blood turn to ice. If he had sex, then everyone would know about it?! Or if it wasn't everyone, Black and Lupin would know at the very least? "Why would you do something like that?" He gasped when she sat up and wrapped her legs around his waist. "And what are this other things?!"

She kissed his shoulder and put her arms around him, leaning into him. "You know…" From the look on his face, he clearly didn't. "Taking a shower together, oral sex…" Kim trailed off when she felt his heart start beating quickly against her own.

"Why would you talk about this with them?" Draco felt his face heat up. There was no way he would willingly talk to his parents about his future sex life.

She shrugged, starting into his nervous eyes. "It was back when they found out we slept in the same bed. They were pissed…" She narrowed her eyes. "I mean angry, and Sirius wanted me to break up with you so this was our compromise."

"So-so, if we have sex, they're going to know about it." Draco felt like the world was going to end.

She smiled at him. "Well, the way things are going, I'm sure it will be in the _Daily Prophet_ anyway." Draco jumped off the bed, nearly knocking his girlfriend off of it since her legs were still wrapped around him. "Is it really that bad?" she asked breathlessly.

"Yes! Black doesn't even like me holding your hand! I'll be dead for sure." Draco yanked at his hair in panic. "We-we can't do it! We can never do it!" Kim pouted, knowing that if Ginny heard about this she would be laughing at her for the rest of her life. "You have to break this contract! No, if you break it, they'll know something's up!"

"It's up when I'm nineteen," Kim said slowly, shaking the hair away from her face. "I guess if we're too big of scardy cats to talk to them that we shouldn't be doing it anyway."

Draco couldn't help but laugh. "That sentence was so grammatically incorrect." He bit his lip. "I can wait."

Kim climbed off her bed and hugged her boyfriend. "And that's why I love you."

* * *

No one saw hide or hair of Lee until the funeral. When he did show up, Sylvia claimed that she would never forgive him, but she secretly knew that he saved her ass. She was the one who was _trying_ to give the eulogy, and she had written the speech herself and thought it was really good at the time. But now she was struggling with her own misspelled words. "I remember when we wear-were lite-little and Mom always…" Sylvia looked up when she heard Lee's sister, Jade, and Stella laughing at her. She had forgotten how dependent she was on Percy. He always used to help her with her dyslexia, always making sure things were spelled right. Whenever she was publically speaking something that she had written down before, he always tugged at his ear when he knew a word was coming up that she had trouble with. But he wasn't here today.

Thankfully, she was saved by the bell, well, saved by the drunken teenage wizard. He stumbled into the funeral home with a wine bottle in his hands, "Hey everyone! Did I missssss da wedding?" Lee slurred. He could barely stand.

Charlie stood up and headed down the aisle, ignoring everyone's stares. "No. It's in a couple of days. Let's get you sobered up," he added quickly, before the situation could get worse.

"I don't needs sobering up, Charlie, you know why?" Charlie remained silent, staring into Lee's glassy eyes. "Because I'm an alcoholic!"

"No, you aren't," Charlie said softly.

Lee blinked at him in surprise, waving his arms around and dropping the wine bottle, spilling dark red liquid all over the floor. "I'm not? Then why am I so fucking drunk?" He stumbled towards Charlie. "Did-did my goldfish die or something? No…that was in 1988. God I miz 'im. He use to change different colors when I gave him that potion, do you remember, Charlie?"

Charlie grabbed Lee and started to lead him out of the room. "No. I didn't know you yet."

"Really? That's a shame. Because I love you a whole lot, Charlie." There were several gasps in the room, but again, Charlie did his best to ignore them too.

"Yes, I know. Which is why we need to get you home." It took a few minutes for Charlie to half carry Lee far enough away to apparate him back to the manor.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough, all eyes were back on Sylvia. Feigning embarrassment over what just happened, she quickly said, "The point is they were really good parents, and I miss them, so we should take time today to remember their lives." She quickly ran back to her seat to let the priest speak.

Harry was standing between Kim and Sirius was they lowered the bodies into the ground. Sirius was really tense after Lee's appearance, and Remus kept sending him worried glances. As he watched the bodies being placed in their final resting place, he couldn't help but wonder what his own parents' funeral was like. But now wasn't the time or the place to ask, and he didn't have it in him to ask Remus, especially around Sirius. However, he still wondered. Did they talk about what happened or did everyone reminisce about all the good times they had with his parents? Or were they too sad for words? Harry swallowed a lump in his throat, trying to think about other things.

Kim felt anxious once the funeral home people started levitating dirt over her parents' caskets. What if-how could they just—Her mind was moving too fast for words right now. She shouldn't have come here. There was no way she could let them go. There were too many unspoken words, unshed tears, and unanswered questions. They couldn't be gone, not like that. Everything was so…empty. There was no other way to describe it. She was supposed to grieve, have reason to miss them. But no matter how hard she tried, the tears wouldn't come like they were supposed to and everyone's "I'm sorry for your loss" sounded like an accusation. How dare she not miss them? How dare she be happy without them? Kim made to run closer to the graves, but she felt someone grab the back of her neck to stop her.

"Don't. They aren't worth it… Just don't." She looked up to see Calvin, trying to blink away his tears but not bothering to wipe them away when they fell down his cheeks. She looked over to see Sylvia, whose eyes were red. She wouldn't look at any of them.

* * *

After the funeral, Harry sat at a table with Kim, Draco, Remus, and Sirius in an old fashioned restaurant. Sirius was glaring at Lee's family while Kim and Remus were awkwardly trying to make conversation. Because of all the fighting about what to eat, everyone was given the opinion to order whatever they wanted. The waiter fidgeted. "Sir?" Sirius remained silent and was the only one who had yet to order.

Feeling a little better, Kim grinned evilly. "He'll have liver with unions and brussel sprouts and he'll drink…coconut milk!" The waiter looked at Sirius nervously. "Go ahead get our food!"

"That's disgusting." Draco wrinkled his nose at the thought of having to witness Black eat that. "What's wrong with him anyway?"

"He has always had a very low tolerance for intolerance." Remus frowned, knowing Sirius was connecting a lot of the adults around here with his own parents. "I'm sure he'll focus better once when puts that horrible food in his mouth."

Kim took a sip of her water and sighed contently. "Once again, Kimberly Lillian Potter saves the day."

Harry grinned, knowing she was about to freak out. "You middle name is Lily, not Lillian. Mum's name was just Lily." Remus was already covering his ears.

"WHAT?" The whole room went silent and stared at them. Draco shot her a glare. "Since when?"

"Since forever. I'm pretty sure you should have known this since Remus and Sirius told you the story of how you got your name." Harry chuckled at her Crookshanks like pout.

"Lillian sounds better," she grumbled as the food arrived. Sirius was still in lala land as his stinking plate was set in front of him. Remus had to turn away since his sense of smell was a bit better than everyone else's.

Absentmindedly and still glaring at the Starkman table, Sirius cut up what he thought for some reason was steak and piled his fork high with liver and onions. Not really hearing Kim's giggles, Sirius shoved the fork in his mouth and nearly threw up. Remus rolled his eyes. "Just swallow, Padfoot. That's what you get for ignoring the waiter, I suppose." Sirius grabbed his drink to try to wash it down and started choking and spluttering all over the table. Apparently, liver and onions didn't mix well with coconut milk.

* * *

The day after the funeral, everyone was preparing for the wedding nonstop. Lee, however, was so hung over the next day that he couldn't get out of bed. Mrs. Weasley was clearly not happy with this but made sure to coddle him anyway, bringing him up soup and making sure he didn't fall the few times he managed to get up.

The days flew by after the funeral. They weren't allowed to go to the Art Museum, no matter how much Kim begged, so they simply hung around, riding horses and swimming. Calvin wouldn't stop cursing when he saw what his grandmother did to the diving board, making Dora smile at him for the first time since they got here. He scowled. "Am I really that bad of a guy?"

"Yes." Dora tried to glare at him but let out a small laugh after a few seconds. "You've been so grumpy the whole time here! You didn't even laugh when I knocked down that vase."

"That's because it was worth forty thousand galleons." Dora gaped, making Calvin grin. "Just kidding! Just kidding! I'm just messing with you. Sylvia made it in a ceramics class. If I had laughed, she would've cut my head off."

"Oh God," Dora groaned, mortified. "You have to tell me these things! Now she must hate me!"

Calvin shrugged. "She hates everyone right now." Dora slapped him on the shoulder. "Hey! What was that for?"

"You're supposed to reassure me that she doesn't!"

He stared at her in mock offense. "But Dora, I thought you always wanted me to tell the truth!" Dora rolled her eyes.

* * *

Draco had never felt more uncomfortable in his life. The night before the wedding, Calvin decided that Cole should have a bachelor party and that all the guys had to attend or face the consequences. Draco was currently surrounded by alcohol and adults that were waiting for him, Potter, or Weasley to sneak a drink. Lee kept getting glares from Charlie for just sipping butterbeer. After a moment, he dropped the bottle and held his hands up in surrender. There was still no sign of Cole.

After about twenty minutes, Cole showed up with a look of utter disbelief. "There was some half naked girl outside trying to get passed the wards."

"You didn't let you in, did you lad?" Mad-Eye barked, thinking she was Bellatrix in her underwear.

"Of course not." Cole shook his head.

"WHAT?" Calvin clenched his fists. "I paid her three hundred galleons to come out here!"

Cole blinked at him. "Why on earth would you do that?"

Draco could see the emotions flash through Calvin's eyes: shock, rage, blood lust… It took him a full minute to calm down. "You know what? No reason. She was selling Bibles for charity." Cole chose to ignore his sarcasm and poured himself a glass of vodka.

"There are children present!" Draco saw Potter blush at Sirius's words.

"Every teenage boy needs to see a stripper once and a while." Calvin already looked a little tipsy. "Call it a rite of passage."

"Well, I for one, think strippers are a bit icky." Cole drained his glass in one gulp. "I mean, do they ever clean those poles?"

"I would be surprised if they did!" Sirius snapped. "I don't even think there should be so much alcohol here! If you all were going to do this than only those over age should have been forced to come."

Calvin snickered drunkenly. "He said come."

Harry stood out of his seat so fast that Draco didn't even notice he was no longer sitting next to him until he started talking. "I think it's time I went to go do that…thing."

Cole walked up to him and stared down at him. "Remember, I have the picture." With wide eyes, Harry quickly sat back down.

"What picture?" Sirius asked curiously. Harry saw Remus try to hide his smile behind his cup. That picture better not ever see the light of day.

Harry glared at Cole. "The whole point of it was for you to never mention anything!"

"Then sit down and tell raunchy stories with us!" Calvin had an entire bottle of vodka in his hand now. He pointed at Draco. "You go first!" Draco felt Black's and Lupin's eyes bore into him.

"I will not!" Draco hoped to make it out of this country alive.

* * *

Kim never felt more uncomfortable in her life. Agatha was having her bachorlette party and putting on movies but only playing the parts where guys showed up naked or took their shirts off, hooting and yelling with Dora, Ginny, and Cecily. The worst part was that she was sitting next to Mrs. Weasley, who was trying to act young since she was the oldest woman in the room, so once in a while, Kim would hear, "Oh! I suppose he is rather handsome, but if he respected that girl, he would at least put some pants on!" Kim knew that she must be as red as a tomato.

Finally, after half an hour, Agatha flipped the TV off. "Alright! Now we start the waxing!" Kim's eyes popped out of her head. The horror!

* * *

"So you're telling me…" Calvin staggered a bit as he pointed at Draco and then at Harry. "That you've both been in a relationship for over six months, you for nearly two years…" He jabbed his finger at Draco. "And you haven't done any besides kissing."

"How dare you?!" Draco felt like Black was going to put his hands around his neck at any moment. "If you think this is so appropriate, then why don't you tell us about you and Tonks?" Harry put his face in his hands. When was this party going to be over?

"Oh Dora," Calvin said lovingly before taking a big swig of his vodka. "Since we're both metamorphagi, we can morph to bend ourselves in some crazy ways—"

"That's my little cousin, you know," Sirius muttered irritably.

Calvin wobbled at little. "Which is why you can't have her and I can." Remus laughed at Sirius's look of fury.

"Let's change the subject shall we?" Arthur said with false cheer. "Cole, how did you meet Agatha?"

Cole frowned. "Actually, she's pretty much my cousin. She's my aunt's niece, but I'm not blood related to Aunt Mary. That's not incest, is it?"

"No," Remus said before Sirius could get any ideas.

Too late. "Oi! Malfoy! I adopted Kim, so technically you two are…second cousins, I believe is the proper term."

Draco brought his brows together in confusion. "But-but-but…"

"All pureblood families are interrelated," Remus said calmly, ignoring Sirius sulking at him trying to not make a big deal out of this. "You haven't heard any of the jokes?"

"Jokes?" No one ever made fun of Malfoys.

Sirius smirked. "Yeah. All the inbreeding jokes. I mean, look at your friends Crabbe and Goyle!"

"No."

Sirius shook his head. "Kids these days."

* * *

Kim had to say she would never look at Mrs. Weasley the same way again. She didn't even cry out when the house elves waxed her, making Kim believe that she had done this plenty of times before. Ginny looked like she was going to be sick when she pointed this out. She didn't see anything, since it was done in the bathroom, but just knowing that her mother was getting waxed in places that no daughter should have to think about was enough to make her stomach turn.

Agatha clapped her hands together. "Okay. Now that we're all naked mole rats." Hermione was in a permanent blush. "I have to ask the older ladies of the group a question." Kim was getting ready to cover her ears. Sirius would have a fit if he knew half the stuff that was going on at this party. "Cole wants to have a baby, but I don't. What should I do?"

Cecily raised her eyebrows. "Tell him that he can have one when figures out how to carry a child to term himself."

"But what if he figures it out!" Hermione snorted, making Agatha turn to her. "You laugh now, but one time I told him he couldn't mate a cat and a dog, and he managed it!"

Hermione gaped. "There's no way!"

"What ever happened to Dunkin?" Sylvia asked.

"He's probably burying mice in the backyard right now," Cecily said with a smile.

"If you take a potion every morning, then there will be no child, Sweetheart." Mrs. Weasley heard that from her mother a thousand times. Her mother never was able to understand that she had always wanted a big family.

"Yeah, but I don't want to fight over it." Agatha hugged her pillow.

"Then distract him every time he brings it up," Ginny suggested. Then she turned red at everyone's sniggers. "Not like that!"

"Well, we are going to be newlyweds." Agatha giggled. Still, she felt her nails dig into her hands. They hadn't done anything since she got back, and she knew Cole was trying not to push it, but she didn't want to let what happened ruin her honeymoon.

* * *

"So you're saying that sometimes babies poop so much that their diaper explodes?" Cole waved his hands in the air in shock while Remus turned green from the memories.

Mr. Weasley nodded. "Every red haired man in this room has done it to my wife and me." The rest of the male Weasley's in the room had pink ears.

"But what if I get it on my suit!"

Mr. Weasley grinned. "You might as well be wearing a protective shield whenever around young children." Cole pouted, getting ready to pour Firewhiskey down his throat. "It isn't that bad."

"Changing the subject!" Calvin slurred. "Why are our dress robes purple for tomorrow?"

Cole rolled his eyes. "Because Agatha wants you all to match the bridesmaids."

"Dude, you are so whipped!"

"I know!"

* * *

"Maybe I'll have one." Agatha allowed.

"It's a big decision," Mrs. Weasley said knowingly. "Don't jump into things all willy-nilly." Ginny grimaced at her mother's choice of words.

"You're willing to push out a six or more pound baby out of where you pee for someone who stole my Christmas cookies!" Kim squeaked. Agatha nodded with a small smile. "Dude, you are so whipped!"

Agatha twiddled her thumbs. "I know."

* * *

Harry had to say the thing that stood out the most about Cole and Agatha's wedding was their vows. It wasn't that they were particularly sweet or romantic or anything. It was just the opposite actually. Everything else was normal, or at least what he thought was normal from what he saw Aunt Petunia watch on TV. The priest announced that the lovely couple would like to say their own vows, and Cole grabbed her hands saying, "Agatha Powers, you are the most bossy, controlling, stubborn person I ever met…" There were several gasps from the audience. "But you are also the only one who can calm me down when I'm angry, the only one who is able to make sure I do the right thing, and the only one who I trust completely. And because of that, you are the only person I will ever love."

Agatha laughed despite the fact that her eyes were filling with tears of joy. "Cole Pendragon, you are the most immature, entitled, villainous person I have ever met. But you are also the only one who can make me laugh when I take things too seriously. You are the only one isn't offended when I boss you around too much, and you are the only one who I cannot live without. Because of that you are the only person I will ever love."

The priest cleared his throat, not sure exactly how to respond to those vows. "Do you, Cole, take Agatha to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

Cole grinned like a maniac, more to scare the priest than anything. "I do."

"And do you, Agatha, take Cole to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Agatha punched Cole playfully on the arm. "I do."

The priest looked around, wondering if this was some big prank. He didn't seem confident when he said, "Well then, if that is the case, by the power invested in me by the Ministry of Magic, I now pronounce you, Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride."

This was one of the rare occasions that Cole seemed unsure of himself. For the first time, Harry saw a look in his eyes that was almost…vulnerable. Then he remembered what Remus said about Greyback's beta. Cole wasn't sure if Agatha would be comfortable kissing him. His eyes were wide, and he took a step back. Murmurs from the audience only made things worse until Agatha grabbed him by his jacket. "Cold feet is for the bachelor's party, _mi amor_." She kissed him without another word.

…and she didn't seem to be letting go any time soon. Harry looked at Ginny and the other bridesmaids who seemed to be trying to look away without being rude. He smiled at her. This was the first time he saw her ears turn pink like Ron's. When she caught his eye, she scowled and stuck her tongue out at him, at the exact moment Agatha had finally released Cole. But of course, everyone's eyes were on Ginny, who stood there frozen with her tongue sticking out. Agatha giggled, breaking the spell and allowing Ginny to resume back to normal, even though her face was so dark a red that it almost looked purple with embarrassment.

The priest cleared his throat again. "I-I think we all wish the couple nothing but happiness and prosperity." Then he scurried off.

* * *

At the party after the ceremony, Ginny made sure to get revenge by making Harry dance during every song. "I can't believe everyone was staring at me!" she groaned, snuggling up to his chest.

"Well, now every Weasley is staring at me," Harry whispered. "I think Mr. Weasley is about to stick a ruler in between us."

Ginny looked up at him. "What?"

"Never mind, it's a television reference." Harry flushed. "I, er, like your dress." It was dark purple and made of silky material. The back was bare, and it was very low cut. Ginny shivered when Harry's fingers skimmed across her back. "But I think it might get me in trouble. At least Bill's not here to chase me around like he was a school."

"Don't give Charlie any ideas."

* * *

"My God Dora! You've stepped on my feet at least a dozen times already!" But Calvin was still smiling as he twirled her around, and she almost stumbled to the ground. "If I have any broken toes, you'll have to nurse me back to health."

Dora tried to purposely stomp on him but gasped when she tripped and somehow her mouth landed on his. "You prat!" she said once her mouth was free. "How'd you manage that?!"

"I'm suave."

"You're something alright," she grumbled.

"I want you to catch the bouquet," Calvin commanded.

Dora raised her eyebrows. "If this is a proposal, it sure is a crummy one." But she still felt her heart speed up.

"Nope." Calvin grinned. "I just want you to know that one is coming." This time when Dora tripped, she and Calvin both fell to the floor. But Calvin couldn't have been happier.

* * *

Stella pranced up to Severus, who was glowering in the corner, trying not to watch Elizabeth, who had her hands all over a man who was at least ten years younger than her. Stella rolled her eyes. "Dance with me."

Severus blinked in surprise. "Why?"

Stella put her hands on her hips. "This is an iconic father-daughter moment that I have been denied for fourteen and a half years. At school once, the caretaker took pity on me when all the girls started dancing with their fathers during a father daughter dance, and I was stuck dancing with him for two hours." Severus winced inwardly, thinking of Filch. "So get your ass up and dance with me."

"Please would be nice," Severus drawled.

Stella mimicked his tone and British accent, "Please is for nice people, and I'm not one of them, my dearest father." She started tapping her foot. "I'm waiting."

Severus stood up, sighing when a tango song came on. "Just one dance."

Stella smirked. "We'll see."

* * *

Draco yelped when he saw Agatha and Cole tango right towards them. He and Kim weren't really dancing. They were just holding each other, swaying slightly, and ignoring the music. Before he knew it, Kim and Agatha had switched places. Well, at least they tried to. Cole was chasing Kim around the dance floor while she was screaming, "KIDNAPPER! KIDNAPPER! I'M GOING TO BE ABUDUCTED!" And soon enough, Mad-Eye, who had taken her words to heart and thought Cole was a Death Eater in disguise, and started hobbling after them both, sending stunners flying and pushing past several old ladies.

"How long have you loved her?" Agatha demanded.

Draco stared at her. "Um…about two years."

"When?"

Draco turned bright red. "Since I first saw her." He had never told anyone that and couldn't belief he was saying that while getting the third degree by someone he barely knew.

"Have you ever been cruel to her?" Draco winced but bravely nodded. "I'm sure she gave you hell." Agatha stared at him, glad that he was honest. "But I want you to know that if you ever hurt her, whether it be cheating, hitting, verbal abuse, or just plain nastiness, that I know how to skin you alive without killing you."

Draco gulped. "I'll take that into consideration."

Agatha ruffled his hair. "Good boy." He glowered.

* * *

Harry frowned when Kim came sauntering over to him. Ginny had finally got tired of dancing and went to go get them something to drink. Kim smiled, but Harry's frown deepened. Something was rather…off about her. When she smiled at him, Harry couldn't help but think that it wasn't _her_ smile. "Care to dance? Or do you think it's creepy?" She winked at him.

Okay, that was the last straw. Kim wouldn't care if it was creepy or not. She'd just go for it. "Who are you?"

She smiled prettily at him. "You're smarter than your given credit for." Her hair suddenly became short and a yellowy blonde. "I'm looking for my mommy," she said sadly, as if she were five.

"Er, well…" She still looked like Kim, just with different hair. "Dora?" Maybe this was her idea of some weird joke.

She shook her head, allowing her eyes to become a pale blue. "Nope." With lighting speed, she yanked Harry out of his seat and reached into his pocket. But his hand was already on his wand. "But I am a metamorphagi." Suddenly, her arms became muscular like a male bodybuilder's as she grabbed his arm. Her arms quickly changed back to normal, but they still held their strength. How was no one noticing this? Harry's arm was pinned against hers, and no matter how hard he tugged, he couldn't get his wrist out of her hand. "Like I said, you're going to help me find my mommy."

They sifted through the crowd, and Harry was trying to yell out and kick, but nobody did anything. When he looked up, the woman was Kim again. _Everyone must think she's just picking on me,_ Harry thought with annoyance. After about five minutes, the mystery woman exclaimed, "Aha! There she is!" Harry looked over to see Adina, complaining to some waiter. The woman kicked Harry roughly in the back with her knee. "I have people watching the place, so if you pull any shit, Remus Lupin is going down. Let's go!"

* * *

Kim bounced over to Sirius and Remus, who were talking quietly at the bar, remembering Lily and James's wedding. "Hey! I want you guys to dance! Tango! I can make them put it on again!" Remus choked on his butterbeer at the thought.

Sirius smirked. "Yeah right. Moony will step on my feet so many times, he'll break my toes and maybe my feet. Where's Harry?"

"How am I supposed to know?!" Kim rolled her eyes. "There's, like, a kadrillion people here!"

Remus set his drink down. "You were just with him. Remember? You were pretending to kidnap him?" Sirius felt panic rise in him at the confused look on his goddaughter's face.

"Not true! Cole was just trying to kidnap _me_! I haven't seen Harry for hours! Eeep!" Sirius zoomed past her as Padfoot. "The least he could do is say excuse me!"

* * *

Adina spotted Harry and the woman when they were only a few paces away. "Kimberly! Do you have to be a barbarian everywhere you go? This is a wedding! Not… a…circus…" She became quieter with each word as Harry felt the woman morph behind him. "Olivia?" she breathed out.

Harry felt the woman press up against him, entwining her fingers with his. Her fingers were just touching his wand, and he saw a few green sparks fly out of them. "That's right. And I think it's time I finished what I started. _Avada Kedavra!_" Adina fell to the ground the second the green light died down. Her eyes were dull and lifeless. She was so still. And it was all Harry's fault.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I guess we know which side of the family Calvin inherited being a metamorphagus from! :) Please review!**


	7. Reunion

**Disclaimer**: **I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: I should've reminded everyone of Olivia's background. She's Kim's "aunt", even though she never met her. When Kim's adoptive father was younger, Olivia (his sister) was expected to seduce the Alphas of werewolf packs to find the location of the pack. She fell in love with Greyback thirty years ago and went nuts and killed her father.**

Chapter 7

Harry felt numb on the plane ride home. Sirius had shown up as Padfoot a few minutes after it happened, snarling and barking at Olivia, who was skipping merrily away so fast that Padfoot couldn't catch her, laughing hysterically. Once people got over the shock of what happened, the screaming started, but Harry remained perfectly still, staring at Adina's body.

There were enough witnesses for the aurors to believe that he didn't commit the murder, but they still wanted to keep his wand until the investigation was closed. Harry didn't have a problem with that though, considering what it had just been used for. But of course, Sirius did and yelled at them until he gave him his wand back. _"You want to leave my godson defenseless while you conduct an investigation! The bitch is out of her mind and about a hundred people saw she did it! What is there to investigate?!"_ Harry sighed at the memory. Sirius would've punched an auror, if Remus hadn't been there to hold him back. Right now, he was pestering him. "Are you sure you don't want lunch? You barely ate breakfast."

"I'm fine, Sirius." Harry turned to the window. He'd eat once he got home, where he could at least try to forget about killing an old woman.

Kim, who was in the row in front of him, popped her head up. "If it makes you feel any better, one time she spanked me in front of everyone during a Christmas party."

Harry took a deep breath, trying to find some patience. "No. For some odd reason, it doesn't," he replied curtly. Kim sunk back down into her seat.

And Draco popped up from the seat next to her. "Honestly, Potter, you didn't do it! She picked you because Greyback is her mate. There have been reports that she uses her powers to crush bones. She could've snapped your spine if you managed to get free. So stop being an ass—Ah!" Sirius kicked his seat roughly, knocking Draco out of it.

"Sirius," Remus muttered tiredly. "I think it's best that everyone be quiet now." They still had four hours left on the flight. Kim peeked her head up again but sunk back down at the look Harry gave her. Maybe a good night's rest would help him out. She'd talk to him in a couple of days.

Sylvia, Calvin, and Severus stayed behind. Sylvia and Calvin for Adina's funeral, and Severus wanted to spend as much time as possible with his daughter before the Dark Lord asked for him again. Kim, who felt partly responsible for what happened to Harry since she made everyone stay for the wedding, decided that waiting for the funeral would be too much. Sirius laughed with relief when she said that, glad he didn't have to argue with her about leaving. She gave her pony one last burrito and got in the Ministry cars to head to the airport.

* * *

Harry holed himself in his room once they were home. Sirius knocked on his door hourly, and Harry tried his best to answer that he was fine every time. His godfather came busting in though, once Harry fell asleep around five thirty. "HARRY!"

Said godson bolted straight up and looked around in panic. "What? What? What happened?"

Sirius backed away sheepishly. "Sorry. I thought you were…I don't know."

Harry flopped back down on the bed and yawned. "My schedule's all messed up. What did you think happened? I smothered myself with a pillow?" Sirius didn't say anything so Harry stretched and sat back up. "Is that even possible?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I thought you ran away or something."

"Why?" Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.

He shrugged, realizing that he was letting his worry get the best of him. "I don't know…I thought maybe you were tired of us trying to make you feel better."

"So I would run away." Harry couldn't keep the disbelief out of his voice. Of all the things to run away for, that had to be one of the dumbest.

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Believe it or not, the Malfoys are going to be here."

Harry rubbed at his eyes and grinned. "Now I really have reason to run away."

By the time Harry came out of his room, Kim was running around the kitchen in chief's whites, complete with the tall hat and everything, and yelling about how they were out of salt. Remus was sitting at the table, sipping tea, and trying not to laugh at her. Sirius snickered. "What are you making again?"

"Spanish rice! _Me encanta el arroz!_" (I love rice in Spanish)

"Then why does it smell like cookies?" Harry asked, feeling a little better.

"Because I'm making cookies!" Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy flooed into the living room, followed by Draco when she yelled, "CHOCOLATE CHIPS!" Lucius gave his wife an annoyed look.

Draco looked up at her hat, hoping this wasn't another plot where Kim would declare she was taller them him. "What are you wearing?"

"You're too early!" She ran past him into her room to get changed. "I'm a chef, Silly!"

"She made the meal?" Lucius asked cautiously. He wasn't sure if he would rather have Kim cook or be served by a werewolf. At least it wasn't Black.

"Be nice, Lucius," Narcissa said with a smile. It had been a while since they had enough time to sit down and have a nice meal, especially with their son. "When is Albus coming?"

"After dinner." Remus stood up to get the plates. "He is visiting Severus right now."

Once the timer rang, Kim kicked her door open, making Lucius flinch at the noise and hobbled over with one shoe on and the other in her hand. "Rice! Rice! Rice is nice! Especially with cookies!" she sang. She flung her other shoe in front of the oven, hopped in it and pulled the cookies out with her strawberry mittens and turned the stove off. Once the cookies were safe on the counter, Kim clapped her hands together. "Who's ready to eat?!"

They ate in silence for a while, Kim trying not to remember that the last time she saw Lucius, she had slapped him in the face, and Sirius trying to forget how much he hated Lucius and Narcissa. "So are you guys looking forward to Quidditch?" Narcissa asked, trying to break the ice.

"Er, yeah, I suppose. It's been a while…" Harry looked at Draco, waiting for a challenging remark.

"You're going down, Potter." He smirked.

"We'll see," was all Harry was willing to say.

"Hogwarts needs some clubs!" Kim pounded her fist on the table but stopped when she saw the look Lucius was giving her. "I'm starting one! It'll be called…"

"How about the Quiet Club?" Lucius shrunk under the look Narcissa gave him. "Or, I mean, Draco tells me your best subject is Potions. Start a club like that?"

Kim scowled and mimicked Harry. "We'll see."

Narcissa tried her best to smile while Draco couldn't imagine another time when he was so embarrassed by his father. "Lucius is struggling with being a grown up."

Kim nodded slowly, not taking her eyes over her boyfriend's father. "I struggle with that every day." Lucius decided to fill his mouth with food to prevent himself from replying. She kept eying him suspiciously as they continued dinner in silence.

Dumbledore arrived just as they were starting on dessert and chuckled when Kim ran up to him forced a plate of cookies on him. "I'm glad you were able to come, Lucius, Narcissa. I hope Voldemort is not trying to force you to disown your son." Draco tensed up while his parents flinched at the name of the man who had been torturing them for the past month.

"Not exactly," Narcissa said with a strained voice. "We can't take him to get his books though."

Kim nibbled on her cookie. "Polyjuice?"

"What about the cloak you gave me for Christmas?" Harry wondered. "Where'd you get it?"

"Hmmm…I don't remember!" She tapped her chin. "I think…a store, that's for sure. I think I ordered it in a magazine, actually."

"What are you referring to?" Lucius wondered how his son had enough patience for this girl.

"It hides your face!"

Lucius raised his eyebrows. "Those are rather expensive."

Kim shrugged. "I just tell them my dad's bank vault number and forge his signature and everything's covered."

"He never found out about that?" Harry gave her a puzzled look. From the sound of things, she had spent a lot of money over the past two years.

"Nope."

"I can order my books," Draco mumbled quietly.

Narcissa sighed. Unfortunately, they had more pressing matters to deal with. "The Dark Lord nearly lost his mind when he found out about your survival, Pot-Harry." Then she launched into the story about when Umbridge told Voldemort that Harry was very much alive.

_"Which one of you was it?" Lord Voldemort roared making his audience collectively quiver with fear. "Which one of you was it who was supposed to disable the Portkey?" Narcissa started shaking more violently than the rest. Please don't be Lucius. Please! Please! Please!_

_ "I was going to disable it, My Lord," Gregory Goyle Sr. said dumbly. "But I thought Potter was surrounded so there was no harm in it." Narcissa breathed out a sigh of relief._

_ Voldemort stared, marveling at the man's stupidity. "Potter was weaving about the graves at the beginning of the duel!" he snarled. "He could have escaped at any time, but at least then we would have known the boy was alive! We were in the dark for a month! A month that could have been spent torturing the brat! You were supposed to disable it the moment you arrived!"_

_ Goyle sank to his knees. "I'm sorry, My Lord." Voldemort flicked his wand, sending Goyle flying through the air and smashing into the wall. He whimpered._

_ Voldemort smiled. "I hate to lose someone who is loyal to me. What do you think his punishment should be?" He looked around at the fifty Death Eaters in the cold, dark room._

_ "Cut off his legs!" Bellatrix shouted savagely. "Better yet, cut off his head!" She then broke into a fit of giggles._

_ "May I make a suggestion?" Dolores gave them a toothy smile, eyes twinkling madly. Voldemort glared at her, which she took as a signal for her to continue. "You have mentioned that the wolf's house is too heavily guarded, but the Dursley's blood wards have fallen last summer. Perhaps Gregory shall try to find some recruits in Azkaban."_

_ Bellatrix bounced up and down. "He's going to kill the muggles and get caught on purpose!" If that was the case, then maybe her husband and brother-in-law and everyone else incarcerated could be released._

_ Voldemort folded his arms behind his back, considering this. "I always thought I would be the one to kill those Muggles," he spat. Everyone flinched, expect for Goyle, who lost consciousness several moments ago. "However…" He paused for dramatic effect. "From what I heard, Potter must not care too much for them." He cackled cruelly. "Alright," he allowed, adopting the tone of a parent letting a child have a cookie before dinner. "Goyle will kill them. But their deaths must powerful. They must speak to both the wizarding and the Muggle world. I want the walls to be painted with their blood. I want people to look back on this and know what they are up against when fighting the Dark Lord." Applause erupted among the Death Eaters. Lord Voldemort grinned madly._

"So what are we—" Harry began to ask but was interrupted by a loud ringing noise signaling that it was seven o'clock.

Kim hopped out of her seat, mouth forming an O. "No!" she whined childishly with wide eyes.

Remus smiled at her. "Yes. Willingly or by force." Sirius stood up with an evil grin.

She slumped her shoulders and walking sadly to her room. "Willingly." She shut the door behind her and made sure to wail loudly as she did it.

"She's grounded," Remus answered Lucius's and Narcissa's unspoken question.

Narcissa smirked, grabbing Lucius's hand. "Remember when you tried that, Love? And you gave up after Draco threw a block at your head. It was over ten years ago, I believe." Draco looked at the ceiling, face red.

"Quiet, woman!" Lucius grumbled, not wanting everyone to know he was a pushover parent.

Eyes twinkling and helping himself to another cookie, Albus went back to the matter at hand. "We have a problem." Harry sighed. He had a feeling of what was coming. "I've been trying to put wards up at the Dursleys' since you left, Harry, but they have been ignoring my letters."

"I guess this is the only reason you let me here this, sir." Harry gritted his teeth when Albus refused to look him in the eye. "And you want me to convince them."

Sirius straightened up. "No. There's no way I'm letting that happen, Albus. They can go into hiding or something. Kidnap them for all I care! My godson is going nowhere near those Muggles!" Narcissa and Lucius shared a look. So that article last year was true.

"It wouldn't matter because they don't like me anyway," Harry mumbled. "I don't know why you think they will listen to me."

"Perhaps seeing a familiar face will help?" Albus turned his blue eyes to a nearby window. "I know you don't want them to die, Harry."

"It doesn't matter what he wants," Sirius snapped. "I don't want him over there, and I'm his guardian. You know where they'll be safe? In Muggle prison where they belong!"

"Sirius." Remus gave him a look that hissed, _Shut up._

"I'll go too!" Kim called out from behind the door. "And then I can see Dinky Diddydums!"

Harry covered his mouth open to keep from laughing. "I'll go. But after this, I never want to see them again." Sirius bit the inside of his cheek but said nothing.

Albus swelled with pride. "I will have Order members watching the house. I'll give you a few days to get settled, and then I'll set up a meeting."

Harry this time caught his mentor's eyes. "What else has _he_ been doing?" Sirius fidgeted.

"I don't think you should worry about that my boy." Albus tried to make his voice sound cheerful. "You're only young once." He stood up to leave.

"But he's after me," Harry said calmly even though his fists were clenched.

Albus looked at him sadly. "And I'm trying to make sure he never gets you." Without another word, he left.

Sirius opened his mouth to say something, but Harry cut him off. "I'll be in my room."

* * *

Harry honestly dreaded going to the Dursleys more than anything, but after what happened to Adina, he didn't want to risk another person dying because of him. Sirius kept insisting that he should try writing first, but Harry didn't trust Hedwig to be anywhere near Uncle Vernon's fat hands. No, this was something he had to do himself, no matter how much he didn't want to. If something happened to the Dursleys because of him, he would never forgive himself.

Still, he couldn't help but think that Dumbledore manipulated him. It wasn't like he could say no, but it wasn't like Harry was going to die if he knew what Voldemort was up to either. He wasn't immature, and he had thought he proved that by agreeing to go to the Dursleys. Clearly, he hadn't. Would Dumbledore always see him as a little kid who couldn't handle the truth? Apparently so. Harry spent the rest of the night tossing and turning at the thought.

"You know, I was thinking," Sirius said quietly at breakfast the next morning. "That maybe Dora could pretend to be you and go to the Dursleys."

"Or Calvin!" Kim chimed in. "'Cause he won't trip over anything!"

Harry twisted his scrambled eggs with his fork. "No. I'll go. It's not like they can hurt me or anything." He honestly didn't want Dumbledore to think that he was even more of a little kid than the headmaster already thought. He thought that Dumbledore would think he was running away from his problems.

Sirius stabbed at his toast. "Fine. But I'm going too. And so is Remus."

"And me!" Kim smiled brightly. "I'm going to see Duddykins!"

"I should've never told you about that." But Harry couldn't help but laugh.

"Sooooo….Plans for today!" Kim smothered her eggs in ketchup. "Harry needs to learn how to ride a bike. I need to—"

"Learn the Patronus," Sirius filled in for her. "Harry's already looks close to being fully formed. It has wings and a feathery tail."

Kim pursed her lips. "No dementors."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "There never were any."

"Er, well, it was my boggart so when Remus tried to teach us…" Harry looked away only to see Remus's surprised face.

"Well, it wasn't real…" But Sirius still turned a few shades paler at the thought.

"I suppose I thought it wasn't as bad as a real dementor," Remus said quietly. Kim and Harry looked at each other, silently deciding that they weren't going to go into details about that night.

"It doesn't matter…" Kim bit her lip. "But you have to be patient with me! And don't let me fall behind! And don't laugh if I ask a question! And—"

Sirius threw his hands up in the air. "What kind of a godfather do you think I am?"

Kim folded her arms and turned her head away. "One who teases me!"

Sirius looked up at the ceiling as if some other worldly presence would give him some advice. "I solemnly swear that I will not tease you during the lessons."

Kim chewed slowly, ignoring the fact that Harry and Remus were laughing at them silently. "Okay then," she mumbled after swallowing. "I solemnly swear I won't attack you during lessons."

Sirius pretended to flick a tear out of his eye. "They grow up so fast."

"Hey!"

They trucked out to the backyard for their lesson after breakfast, feeling the sun beating down on them like a heat lamp. Sirius pointed his wand at the garage to let a few targets fly their way. Kim let her eyes slide to the back door. Maybe being stuck in the house all day wasn't so bad after all. "You might be stuck on mist today, but Harry can send his to targets," Sirius said proudly. She turned to Harry and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Alright, Sirius. You'll have all the bragging time you want on their birthday on Monday." Remus took out his wand. "Do you remember the incantation?"

"Of course I do! Expecta Patrona!" Harry bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, but Kim looked at him with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "Well, it's been a year and a half!"

"Close," Remus stated. "_Expecto Patronum._"

Kim pointed her wand at Sirius with a look of pure determination on her face that made Harry wonder what she thought the Patronus was capable of. "_Expecto Patronum!_" A little puff of smoke came out of her wand but disappeared with in a second.

"Did you remember to think of a happy memory?" Remus asked patiently. Sirius's mouth twitched.

Kim blinked. "We'll why didn't you say so." She started biting her nails. "Give me a minute. Hmmmm… I had lots of fun playing Twister the other day…I just wish someone would play with me! I know! I'll pick the memory of when we played baseball!" She took a step closer to Sirius. "_Expecto Patronum!_" A cloud of white fog momentarily covered Sirius's face, but Harry could've sworn he saw the beginnings of a grin.

Sirius immediately fell to the ground, covering his eyes. "My eyes! They burn! I'm blind!" Harry and Remus caught each other's eye and smirked at Sirius's melodramatics.

But Kim covered her mouth with fear and ran over to him. "SIRIUS! Don't be blind! We'll get you to the hospital!" Sirius uncovered his eyes and started laughing hysterically. Kim let her hands fall to her sides. "Wha…?"

"I can't believe…Aha! You fell for it!" Sirius was laughing so hard his face started turning red, and he was gripping his aching ribs.

Kim pursed her lips and looked down on Sirius in a way that strongly reminded Harry of Aunt Petunia. "Jerk." Deciding that she was giving up for the day, Kim roughly sat on the ground, making sure to throw a dirt clod at Sirius before motioning for Harry to start practicing.

Harry frowned. Usually, he thought of the memory of when the Dursleys signed over custody of him to Sirius. He didn't think of the exact moment; he thought of how he felt going to bed later that night and truly realizing that he would never have to return to Privet Drive again. But now he did.

Gripping his wand tightly, he did his best to think of another memory. It was hard, since he kind felt like he was on the spot, so he felt like an idiot for not thinking of the obvious. One of his best memories was of the time he spent with his parents. A smile just touched his lips when he said confidently, "_Expecto Patronum!_"

The light was brighter than ever before, so bright that he could hardly see the feathers of his corporeal Patronus. Blinking, he tried to send it to one of the targets, missing by mere centimeters. "No, more to the left," he muttered under his breath as a veered it around to make a U-turn. Concentrating, Harry let his Patronus hit the target before he let it die down.

Kim blinked at him like she just woke up. "I think you really did blind me!"

Harry blushed. "Sorry."

Shaking her head, she exclaimed, "I think I know what it is! It's a phomuffof!" Harry turned around at the sound of that to see Sirius covering her mouth.

"You can't tell!" he panted out with exasperation as she kicked her feet and started punching him. "It'll be what his animagus form is, and I want it to be a surprise!"

"She's going to bite you, Padfoot," Remus warned as his goddaughter tried to wiggle out of Sirius's grasp.

Sirius sighed and shook his head. "Fine! But you have to promise not to tell." Kim squinted at him and slowly nodded. Harry didn't say anything, but he actually wanted to know what his animagus form was. Oh well, he'd bug Kim about it another day.

* * *

Harry woke up the day he had to go to the Dursleys feeling tired and achy, like he had just gotten over the flu. _Stop getting yourself so worked up. There's nothing to be afraid of,_ he thought to himself as Sirius started yelling that everybody had better get up for breakfast.

Once he was at the table, Sirius piled mountains of eggs on his plate with enough sausages to feed everyone in the house. "You'll make him throw up!" Kim squeaked. "He'll throw up with the Portkey, and it will be all your fault!"

"Well, he needs to eat more," Sirius replied stubbornly as he marched to the fridge to get pumpkin juice. Harry was so nervous that he wasn't sure if he could choke down toast, let alone this feast. "Everyone in the house is too thin." Then he dumped a pan full of eggs on to Kim's plate. She sipped her strawberry milk, eyeing the plate as if it were challenging her.

Remus was just walking into the kitchen, yawning and trying not to be surprised at the fact that Sirius was currently cooking an entire frying pan worth of sausage. "I think I'll stick to cereal today, Padfoot." Sirius reached into the cabinet and took out the biggest bowl out. "Er, that's for mixing things." But Sirius was already pouring the corn flakes into it.

"Sirius is trying to be like Mrs. Weasley," Kim whispered loudly. "I think he thinks if we're as fat as the Dursleys that they won't be mean to us." Harry rolled his eyes, but maybe she was on to something. Sirius did know that Harry was starved as a child. Did he read that article again and was now trying to make up for the past?

"Just eat," Sirius said tiredly. "Don't compare me to Molly please. It makes me feel old."

Kim took a bit of her eggs and shivered in revulsion as she crunched part of a shell. "But you're going to be thirty six in a few months! That's plenty old, Grandpa."

"You're grounded."

"Too late! I already am," she retorted proudly.

"It won't be that bad Sirius," Harry said cautiously. "I'm sure it will only take five minutes, if that." Sirius growled.

Albus arrived an hour later with a sombrero as a Portkey, having the decency to look grim instead of his usual cheerful self. Harry tried not to be angry. Dumbledore was trying to protect him. Still, it made him feel weak to know that Dumbledore didn't think he could handle the truth. His headmaster knew everything he had been through, so why did he think he couldn't handle knowing what Voldemort was up to? "You can leave with this anytime, Harry." He waved the sombrero in his hand. "I will explain things after they know that you are trying to keep them safe."

The Portkey took them to Privet Drive a few minutes later, and Harry saw Aunt Petunia peeking at the neighbors from the same window she always did in the morning. As usual, everything looked the same. "Don't ring the doorbell like you did last time," Harry told Kim quietly. "He doesn't like noise, especially on Sunday morning." Kim adopted an evil glint in her eye. "Please." Defeated, she stomped over to the door and knocked as lightly as possible. Harry grinned. "You can knock a little louder."

"I wish I had a hammer," she mumbled before pounded her fist into the door so hard that her fist hurt.

This time, Aunt Petunia answered the door and didn't rip it open like Uncle Vernon did. "Whatever you're selling we aren't—oh." She stared at the people before her with mixed emotions. She hadn't noticed last time how much Kim looked like Lily. "Is-is there a problem?" she asked softly.

"Er, yeah. You weren't answering any of the letters." Harry hoped that Dudley was still sleeping. "We were wondering if you opened them…"

"Letters?" Petunia turned around. "Vernon? Did we get any letters from _them_?" She looked around as if she could feel the other neighbors staring at her. "Come in, come in," she said hurriedly but not with the spite that Harry was used to. "Before someone sees."

Harry wasn't surprised to find Uncle Vernon and Dudley eating in front of the TV. He was surprised, however, at the fact that they were eating grape fruit. They must've been still eating junk food though, since they still looked like small wales. Kim peeked at Dudley from behind him. Harry took a deep from to prepare himself for, "Ickle Diddykins!" He winced as Dudley and Vernon whipped around.

Vernon started turning purple but paled at his wife's icy tone. "Vernon? Did we get any letters that you didn't tell me about?"

Dudley stared at Sirius dumbly as Vernon whimpered and said quietly, "I did-didn't want to worry you, Poppet. I didn't want these freaks bothering us again…after what happened."

Petunia opened her mouth to respond, but Dudley shouted, "That's him! That's him! He's the one who broke my nose, Mum!" Remus sent Sirius a dark look.

"I am not a slut!" Kim put her hands on her hips, remembering what Harry had told her that Dudley said. "I am as pure as snow!" Dudley looked at her in horror, heaved himself off of the couch, and retreated to the corner of the living room with his hands on his bottom. Kim looked around the room, trying to look everywhere but where he had his hands. "Do you have to go to the bathroom?" Harry bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Dudley thought he was going to get another pig tail.

"_Anyway_," Sirius said through clenched teeth. "What you've been ignoring this past year and a half is some much needed protection."

Uncle Vernon studied Sirius, as if he was wondering if he would get hexed if he beat him up for breaking his son's nose. "Why would we need protection?" he spat. "_He's_ gone." He jerked his thumb at Harry.

"Because Voldemort's back," Harry told them calmly, and as he suspected, the name had no effect on him. "He killed my parents." Aunt Petunia's eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with a shaking hand. "And he is sending someone after you so it's rather important that you take the help that is being offered to you."

"And he's after us…because of you?" Uncle Vernon said slowly. Harry flinched at his accusatory tone.

"It doesn't matter why," Sirius almost shouted. "The point is that your entire family will be dead if you keep being a stubborn ass." Aunt Petunia cried out and fell to the floor in faint.

Remus made to approach her, but Vernon advanced towards him. "YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE!" Remus held up his hands in surrender. "AND YOU!" Vernon swung himself in Harry's direction, waving his meaty fist at him. "WHENEVER THERE'S A PROBLEM, YOU'RE ALWAYS AT THE CENTER OF IT! YOU ARE THE SORCE OF ALL THE NEGATIVITY IN MY FAMILY! IT'S ALWAYS BEEN _YOU_!"

Harry took a stepped towards him, not seeing Sirius take out his wand or Remus trying to get him to put it away. "IT'S ALWAYS BEEN ME? HOW ABOUT IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN YOU? IT'S ALWAYS BEEN YOU WHO I THOUGHT LIFE WOULD BE REMOTELY TOLERABLE WITHOUT! IT'S ALWAYS BEEN YOU WHO MADE SURE THE BELT BROKE MY SKIN OR I SPENT AN EXTRA DAY WITHOUT A MEAL!" Harry saw the lights start to flicker. "SO JUST AGREE TO DUMBLEDORE'S HELP SO I NEVER HAVE TO SEE YOU AGAIN!" The screen on the beloved family TV cracked. Harry felt his heart beating so fast that he couldn't simply stand around. Waving his hand, the front door flew open, and he stormed out.

Kim started chasing after him but stopped skipping when Harry turned around and glared at her. He could hear Sirius screaming in the background. "Don't worry, you have us," she said quietly.

"Yeah, I know," he muttered. "I thought I was over it, but…"

She grabbed his arm and started tugging him in the direction of the park. "You never _get over it_. You don't have to like them if you don't want to. _I _don't like them."

"They aren't worth getting angry over."

"Of course they are!" Kim frowned at the cat poop in the sand box. "You can't always avoid fighting. If someone pisses you off, you got to let them know, or you'll fell all crummy later and do something even worse!"

Harry sighed, fingering the metal chains on an old swing. "I suppose."

Sirius must've screamed until he was blue because he was out of breath as he raced over to the park. "Why did you leave?! It's dangerous!"

"But—"

"No buts! We are going home right this instant, and you are going to finish your eggs and sausage, and you are going to like it!" he roared. Remus and Dumbledore caught up to them by then, sending Harry apologetic glances. "And you!" He pointed at Dumbledore. "If you want them to go into hiding, send them to Antarctica or something, because they definitely aren't staying at my Mum's house. If I find out that that is where you've placed them, I'm bulldozing the place with them in it! Understand?" Dumbledore nodded. Sirius took a deep breath. "Then let's go home."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	8. Partying with Lucius

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 8

It took Sirius a few days to calm down after the whole Dursley incident. And during those few days, Harry was forced to eat more food than he ever had at the Weasleys. Kim had taken to flinging food out a window in the kitchen when Sirius wasn't looking. Unfortunately, Sirius found out when a group of rats started hanging out by the window around dinner time. He ranted and raved for almost ten minutes before Remus decided to drag Sirius out to Hogsmeade for Harry's and Kim's birthday that was on Monday. Once they were gone, Harry breathed out a sigh of relief. "He's driving me nuts."

"He's driving everyone nuts," Kim groaned. "My tummy hurts! I have a medical condition! If I didn't get rid of all that food, I'd be in the hospital right now. And I'd be so mad! I haven't gotten sick since last year, man!" she complained.

"Those rats almost got in the house." Harry rubbed at his eyes, trying to stay awake after all that food.

"We should pretend to have food poisoning so he'll never cook again!" Kim picked up her heavy plate and dumped out the window. Harry heard several squeaks of joy and shuddered in revulsion.

"How can you pretend to have food poisoning?" Dudley had made himself sick to get his way in the past, and Harry didn't want to go that far. It was too disgusting.

"We'll just go into the bathroom and make barfing noises."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Together?" She scrunched up her nose. "Maybe Remus will calm him down or something."

"Ugh! Sirius needs a kick in the ass!" Kim kicked the air to demonstrate. "He's getting annoying because how am I supposed to like food, if I'm never hungry?! Maybe I'll go on a hunger strike!"

"Then he'll force feed you." After all the time he spent with the Dursleys, Harry never thought he would have to figure out how to get _less_ food.

Sirius and Remus returned a few hours later to find Harry asleep on the couch, and Kim asleep on the floor where she found the alarm that signaled she had to go to her room at seven. Its pieces were on the floor next to her. When Remus stepped on a squeaky floor board, Kim shot up. "I have food poisoning!"

Harry mumbled, "No more food…", and fell back asleep after turning his back on them. Kim nodded and scrambled to her feet.

"I suppose that means I won't be making breakfast tomorrow?" Sirius asked sheepishly.

"What if we all get so fat we can't walk? Then Harry will snap his broom in half!" Glaring at Sirius like a cat that just had water poured on it during a nap, she stomped into her room, slamming the door behind her.

"Why are they so tired? It's only eight!"

"Because you stuffed them to the brim, Padfoot." Remus hurried over to the window in the kitchen, so Sirius wouldn't see that Kim left her plate there.

* * *

Harry was dead asleep when Kim started jumping on his bed Monday morning, and he was just opening his eyes when he saw a big black dog soaring towards the bed to join her. "Birthday! Get up so we can fill the water guns!" Padfoot barked and started wagging his tail. "I'm going to fight team the Red Menace to the death! And you gotta help!"

Harry sat up, feeling around his nightstand for his glasses. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty!" Kim bounced extra high, trying to touch the ceiling. "We're gonna take a nap at ten before everyone gets here at one!"

Once he had his glasses on, Harry could see that Kim's eyes were wide with a sugar craze. "Did you even go to sleep last night?"

"No, no, no! We've got lots to do! I already made some goodie bags and put all the chairs outside and got the water guns ready for us to fill up! All in the half hour I was allowed out of my room!" Sometimes Harry wondered if Kim needed some kind of potion to stop her from being so hyper.

"Right." Harry yawned. "Well, for my birthday, I want you to let me sleep for another hour or two…or three."

Kim deflated like a balloon with a hole in it. "Okay," she said sadly. "I guess I'll just go out there, _alone_, with an ex-convict." Padfoot howled softly.

"You do that." Harry smirked as she let herself fall of the bed and got up to walk away with her head down, Padfoot trailing behind her. Taking a deep breath, Harry laid back down and closed his eyes, hoping to fall asleep before Kim woke him up again.

* * *

"I can't believe you are making me attend this-this…_party_, Cissy." Lucius was fixing his hair in the mirror while his wife was waiting for him to finish getting ready. "I mean, we have little time to spend with our son as it is, and now you want to celebrate the birth of his _girlfriend_." He said the word as if Kim was one of the foulest of creatures, like a slimy slug that was stamped on and was starting to decay.

"It's important to Draco. Do you really want to waste time fighting with him over something that would be entirely your fault?" Narcissa fiddled with one of her diamond earrings. "It's one day."

"I do not like her," Lucius stated stubbornly.

"Because she's a halfblood? If her mother was pure, I think we would be having an entirely different conversation, Darling." Narcissa felt a slow smile creep onto her face as Lucius's cheeks tinged a rosey color. "Have you ever wondered what the big deal was? The blood, I mean. I've always prided myself for my blood…but has it made me a better person? Am I only who I am because of my blood?"

"She is loud, immature, bossy, and her rice a bit too spicy," Lucius responded in a clipped tone.

Narcissa giggled. "But she has courage. How many girls do you know who would slap their boyfriend's father in the face? You were being a bully, Love, and she not tolerating it for one second."

Lucius tried not to smile as his wife pulled him into a hug, kissing him softly. "And the cookies had too much chocolate, not enough cookie for my taste." He felt his wife shake with laughter against his neck. "And I'm pretty sure she isn't going to get much taller. Their children will be shorter than the house elves." Narcissa threw her head back and laughed.

* * *

Draco refused to be late for the party, so Narcissa and Lucius entered the house alone an hour after him to hear the shrieks of children outside. Lucius took a deep breath, grabbed his wife's hand, and mentally prepared for the migraine that was sure to come. What he was not mentally prepared for, was being taken hostage by his son's girlfriend. She pointed a gun at him, making his eyes grow wide. _The Prophet_ had said that was what Muggles used to kill each other. "Aha! I have hostages to keep me safe from the rogue team currently known as the Snakes." The gun was brightly colored and pointed towards his head. "Follow me to the shed or face the consequences, Lucy!" She ran up to him, jabbing the gun at his heart, dragging him to the old, beat up wooden shed a few yards away. Lucius saw his son in a gun standoff with Potter a few yards away and gulped with fear. Narcissa ran…or rather walked off for help.

Narcissa sat next to Sirius just to bug him as he spoke to the Weasley parents. "I'm assuming those are toy guns, although Lucius is currently fearing for his life."

Sirius brightened up at the thought, making Remus shake his head. "They are filled with water," Remus informed her. "No harm will come to your husband."

"Unless he has a heart attack." Sirius chortled at the mental image.

Kim sat on the ground in the shed, glad that Lucius had gotten over himself and was playing with her. He was a really good actor too. "Please. At least let me say goodbye to my son," he pleaded desperately.

"I am afraid I cannot allow that," she said grimly, twirling the plastic yellow and orange water gun in her hand. "You see, he betrayed me, shooting my godfathers and then going after my brother. He has gone rogue and has taken Calvin and Lee with him. I am afraid what he has done is unforgivable."

"But-but surely, you must be able to work something out!" Lucius felt sweat running down his back. "He's a wonderful boy! Really, he is."

Kim sat up and blinked at him. "Are you crying?"

"You are trying to kill me!" Still, Lucius felt shame creep up from his belly and into his chest. Was he really going to cry in front of a little girl? He hastily wiped at his water eyes and sniffled.

"But-but these are filled with water!" Kim exclaimed incredulously. She aimed the gun at her stomach, frowning when Lucius closed his eyes. "Look!" She squirted water all over herself. "It's just water!" Lucius opened one eye at the squirting sound.

There was an awkward silence after that. Kim felt her cheeks burn. Lucius didn't want to play with her! He thought they were out here murder each other! Her mouth twitched, and she let out a small giggle. Then another…and another. And before she knew it, she was rolling around on the floor laughing. Needless to say, Lucius quickly left the shed, grumbling about pureblood etiquette.

Kim ran out to chase after him but was stopped by her new enemy. "How dare you drag my father into this fight?" She spun around to see Draco with a giant fluorescent green water gun pointed at her. "I have defeated the swine you call a brother. Now surrender and perhaps I will let you live." Lucius stared between the two of them in disbelief. He hadn't seen Draco this animated since he was about nine or ten.

"I shall never surrender to the evil forces that you call revolutionary!" Kim pointed her own gun at him, trying to pretend that it was more than a quarter full.

Harry pushed his upper half up with his elbow from where he was on the ground behind them. "Can I get up now?"

"Quiet Potter! What part of dead don't you understand?" Turning back to Kim, Draco chuckled, shaking his head as if he were talking to a small child. "All of your comrades are dead, yet all of mine live." His eyes were dancing with glee. It felt good to defeat Potter for once.

Kim charged at him, getting ready to shoot. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" She shot him in the stomach just as he shot out most his water into her face. "BLARGPHTFFFFFFFF!" She fell flat on the ground. "Oh!" She pulled her head up weakly and pretended to cough up blood. "My brain! My brain is gone!" She closed her eyes and spread out her arms like wings. Narcissa started clapping in the background.

Once the excitement quelled, Sirius asked Lucius was a grin, "Do you want to help with the grill? Or are you afraid I will use it to take you hostage?" Lucius chose to pretend he didn't hear him and sat next to his wife.

Back from the dead, Kim tipped toed over to Lucius. "I'm sorry I took you hostage, Mr. Malfoy! I thought we were having fun…" Lucius felt his eye twitch. "Okay. Well, I'm gonna go now." She ran off before he could start yelling at her.

"Why is she grounded by the way? Whenever I ask Draco, he merely grumbles that she deserved it and stomps away to his room." Narcissa looked over to see Kim waving a white ball with black spots on it at Draco, trying to get him to play football with her. Remus quickly told the story while Sirius struggled to light the grill.

"My God!" Lucius gave up pretending not to listen. "She could've died!"

Remus's eyes twinkled. "I'll be sure to tell her that you're concerned."

"It's not that, it's…" Lucius found himself at a loss for words, trying to cover his tracks. "No child should put themselves in such danger. What if she tries to drag my son into something like this?"

"Then Draco would throw a fit and that would be the end of it," Sirius called out. Lucius watch his son kick the ball towards Potter's head, making the Weasleys start cheering when he head butted it into the goal. He had to admit, it did look like his son was enjoying himself.

Kim sat across from Lucius during dinner, disgusting him by putting both mustard and ketchup on her hotdog. Lucius had a feeling that Potter was laughing at him, and the Weasleys kept shooting him glares. The young Miss Weasley looked close to tears whenever he caught her eye, making Lucius blurt out, "Is there a problem?"

"Is there a problem? He wants to know if there's a bloody problem?!" Ron exclaimed, face already flushed with anger. "I mean, it's enough that we have to let Malfoy live with us, but now his father's in the picture too! You almost killed my sister!" The amusement was quickly drained from Harry's face, and he quickly grabbed Ginny's hand.

"Killed? Why would she have died?" Lucius knew it was a tool to open the Chamber of Secrets, but he hadn't wanted her to die. If she died, how would Arthur have been brought to shame by having a daughter who practiced Dark Magic?

"Because Voldemort used it to possess her. He was draining her life force to try to strengthen his own." Harry felt the atmosphere become tense and noticed that even Draco was a few shades paler. "Did you even know what you gave her?"

"She was supposed to open the Chamber." Lucius felt his mouth dry. "I'm not entirely sure what I gave her. Killing her was not my intention."

"I guess that is the closest thing my daughter is going to get to an apology. How would you like it if I had endangered your son's life in such a way? And all I had to say for myself was that I didn't mean it." Arthur's voice was calm, but his eyes were hard.

Lucius and Arthur stared each other down for a long minute. Lucius always saw Arthur as a threat to his way of life while Arthur always saw Lucius as a threat to society in general. Lucius thought Arthur was inferior, and Arthur thought Lucius was a cold blooded killer. They would always dislike each other, and today wasn't going to be a day where they would take a step closer to being civil towards each other. Not wanting to reveal his motives, Lucius looked Ginny dead in the eye and said, "My sincerest apologies, Miss Weasley. I will never bring harm to you, or any child ever again." Nobody believed him, so no one responded.

Changing the subject, Kim pounded her fist on the table. "CAKE!"

"You didn't even finish half your hotdog," Remus said quietly, not sure how to react to the previous conversation.

Kim sighed. "I don't know about you sometimes, Remus. Fine, no cake, I suppose. Next topic then…Hermione?"

Hermione perked up. "So OWLs are coming up this year." All the fifth years besides Draco groaned. "I'm going to start making study charts tomorrow, since it will only be one month until school starts. Did you know that we have to study hardest on classes that we will need for our careers? If we don't do well, our lives could be ruined!"

Kim's eyes bugged out of her head. "Careers? What am I going to do with my life?!"

"I don't know," Hermione said slowly. "But you have to figure it out soon, or you'll regret it for the rest of your life!" Clearly, someone as worked up about their grades as Hermione should not be talking about them with someone as worked up about…well, everything as Kim.

"Oh my God! What am I going to do? I want to be a teacher! No! A wand maker! No! A chef! No! No! No!" Kim shook her head. "I'm going to be a failure for life!"

"You won't," Remus said calmly. "Just get OWLs for what interests you most. Professor McGonagall will help you."

She still didn't look happy. "I need some dreams!"

Ten minutes later, the cake was finally presented, and Harry couldn't look at it without laughing. The icing was decorated to look like it was covered in little Firebolts and strawberries, which in his opinion, was a rather odd combination. Kim shook him. "Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday! Now sing!"

Although there were several eye rolls, everyone started singing, in the language or tune of their choice, the Weasley twins choosing the funeral march like they did at Hogwarts. Kim stole the camera from Sirius and took a quick picture of Lucius moving his lips to the words. She planned to send the photo to the Malfoy family as soon as it was developed. Once the cake was being cut, Kim made sure to give her "people" pieces with a strawberry on it while Harry's "people" got a picture with a broom on it. Remus got a strawberry, and Sirius got a broom. Sirius pretended to have hurt feelings about her choice, making Kim run into the house to put a real strawberry on his piece. "Now that's more like it," he said with a grin.

Ginny put a bit of icing on the tip of Harry's nose. "Gonna put your Firebolt on Remus's cake?"

"Not a chance." Harry wiped all the vanilla icing off the side of his cake getting ready to smear it all over Ginny's face. Squealing, Ginny grabbed his wrist with an amazingly strong grip and put his finger in her mouth to eat off all the icing. Several Weasleys cleared their throats. "You're going to be the death of me, Gin," Harry informed her with a red face. She giggled evilly.

Kim picked up her entire plate, preparing to throw it in Draco's face until he said, "Do that and be prepared to _suffer_ the consequences." Shoulders slumped, Kim went back to quietly eating her cake. Lucius smirked. Harry hoped this wasn't going to turn into an all-out cake brawl.

Kim made Harry open his gift from her first, making him turn bright red once he took off the wrapping paper. "Er…thank, I guess." It was a pair of boxers with little snitches flying on it. Everyone started laughing, except Mrs. Weasley, who simply frowned at such inappropriateness.

"The REAL gift is inside!" Kim chirped happily.

Eye in her suspiciously, Harry unwrapped the boxers taking out an object that looked like a small, gold colored wand. "I'm going to ignore the innuendo that goes along with this."

"What innuendo?" His sister's eyes bugged out of her head and her face burned with the realization. Covering her face with her hands and started shaking her head frantically, Kim cried, "No! No! That's not what it was supposed to be! It was supposed to be funny and cute! Wah!"

Draco put his arm around her shoulder. "Maybe Potter just has a dirty mind."

Harry took a deep breath. "Yeah. Okay. You were just as embarrassed last year with the snake thing." Draco turned pink. He had forgotten about that and had gotten Kim a snake necklace. "So…what is this…thing?" He waved the gold stick around.

Kim pouted. "It's filled with a little magic, so if you get disarmed you can do some spells like summon you wand or something! The guy at the shop Fred and George took me to thought the joke was funny!"

"Well." Harry tried not to smile and did his best to look stern. "The gift I got for you is not a _joke_, as you call it." Kim scowled and snatched the gift out of hand…and shrieked with delight at soft, cow patterned blanket before her. She wrapped it around herself so only her face was visible.

"Don't let yourself have a heat stroke," Remus warned good naturedly.

"NEVER!"

Ginny gave Harry collage with pictures of him playing Quidditch, and Kim a pretty red dress with tiny yellow flowers on it. Sirius frowned. It was clear that the dress would be just above her knee, but Remus put his hand over Sirius's mouth to prevent him from saying anything.

Harry got his usual quills from Draco, and everyone started laughing again at the snake necklace, but he felt better when Kim whispered in his ear that he loved it. Draco felt his father's eyes bore into him but for once, decided to ignore it. His father would just have to get over it.

The rest of the Weasleys gave Harry and Kim enough sweets to last a lifetime, making Harry wonder how many sleepless nights his sister was going to have this summer. She already declared that she was going to try to throw jellybeans in his mouth while he was sleeping. Then Sirius started worrying about him choking at night so Harry decided to move on to Sirius's and Remus's gift.

"MIRRORS!" Harry was about to comment about how full over herself Kim was, until he saw her big brown eye peering in his own mirror. He yelled out and almost dropped the mirror, fumbling with it in his hands for a moment.

Sirius gave Harry a minute to slow his heart rate. "James and I had them back in school. You can communicate with each other through them, obviously. I would've given them to you sooner, but I had to make a third so if you ever need to talk…"

"What if you try to talk to me while I'm in detention, and you get me in even more trouble?!" Kim squeaked.

"That's her code for she loves it." Harry grinned. "And so do I." Sirius beamed.

Hermione and Remus, of course, tried to stop their brains from rotting during the last month of summer by giving them books. Harry received a Defense book from Hermione and an animagus book from Remus while Hermione decided to take a risk with Kim and gave her a Potions book on poisons. Luckily, she and Remus had corresponded before the party, allowing Remus to get her a book on antidotes.

After presents, there was a final game of Quidditch that even Narcissa agreed to join into, leaving Kim alone with Hermione and Lucius. Kim looked up at where Harry and Draco were flying towards each other as if they were jousting. "Hermione? Are you afraid of heights like me and Mr. Malfoy?"

"I am not!" The girls ignored him.

"No…" Hermione said slowly. "It's just something about brooms that makes me…uncomfortable. I feel like I have no control when I ride one."

"Hmmmmmmmm…" Kim tapped her chin. "That's how I feel on those moving staircases." She turned to Lucius. "Do you wanna play tag?"

"No, I do not!" Lucius replied disbelievingly. Didn't this girl know that he absolutely despised her?

"But-but it's my birthday!" Kim made her eyes really big and her lip quiver. "Please?" Lucius sighed in defeat in about two seconds flat. There was a reason Draco always got whatever he wanted. He could never stand firm.

Narcissa sent a bludger towards Sirius's head, making him yelp and charge towards her with his beater bat. She let out a twinkly laugh. "Look down! I'd never thought I'd see the day!"

Sirius looked down to see Kim chasing Lucius and Hermione around the yard, Lucius's hair flowing in the wind. He heaved over to catch his breath, making Kim tag him a few seconds later. After that she cartwheeled away, leaving Lucius to chase after Hermione. Sirius roared with laughter. "Let's join them."

Lucius felt like he was ready to collapse. Since when were little girls so fast? He could hardly breathe and his sides ached. Every few minutes he would hear a giggle, making him charge, or at least try to, toward the sound. Hearing a squeal behind a tree, Lucius stomped towards it. "Once I catch you, this game will end immediately!" he puffed out.

But he couldn't hear the excited cry of "NEVER!" because of the gust of wind that buzzed by him so quickly that it messed up his hair. Lucius looked up to see his wife smirking at him and resisted the urge to wave his fist at her like an old man. There was another buzz on the other side where he saw Black taunting him and making funny faces. "Think you can catch us, Lucy?" Black said, infuriatingly smug.

Lucius threw his dark green almost black cloak to the side and took out his wand. "Of course, Black. I just need to drag you down here to hell with me." He waved his wand at his target. "_Accio Nimbus!_" Sirius yelled out as he zoomed towards the ground, stopping the Quidditch game in the air above them. "Tag, you're it," Lucius growled, grabbing his cloak and storming over to the table. Sirius heard Hermione giggle and sprinted towards the shed but stopped when Harry swooped down.

"Is everything alright?" Harry glanced in Lucius's direction, wondering if he had just attacked Sirius. Grinning evilly, Sirius motioned for him to come over. "What is it?"

"You're it!" Sirius poked him with a cheerful look on his face.

"I'm what?" Harry saw Kim sprint over to hide behind the grill. "Oh God. Okay. I'll get her." Dropping his broom, Harry ran as fast as he could, making Kim shriek and run in the opposite direction.

They ran around in circles for a while until Harry got an idea. He ran straight for a rock and tripped, hissing in pain. Kim skidded to a halt. "Are you okay? Did you sprain your ankle? Did you _break_ your ankle?!"

Harry stopped wincing in "pain" and grabbed her wrist. "Tag, you're it."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Kim was pretty much unconscious as the guests started leaving, so it was up to Harry to awkwardly say what felt like a million thank yous on his and his sister's behalf. He refused to hand out the pink goody bags she made by himself so he just told everyone to take one from the table as they left. Since Kim fell asleep on the ground in the backyard, Sirius had a fit when Draco picked her up to carry her to her room. They bickered in harsh whispers until Sirius agreed to let Draco put her to bed if he followed them in there. Draco rolled his eyes and whispered, "What could happen in the fifteen seconds it would take to place her in the bed?"

"Plenty," Sirius whispered back. Harry could've sworn he saw Kim smirking.

Narcissa smiled at Harry. "They're so cute." Harry smiled back weakly, even though a big part of him still hated Malfoy.

* * *

Later that night, Sirius intertwined his fingers in Remus's. "Remus?"

"Hmm?" Remus was half asleep, which was the usual when Sirius was up all night with something on his mind. For some reason, he could never wait until the next morning.

Sirius skimmed his finger over the skin on Remus's shoulder with his free hand. "Did you ever…Never mind."

Remus blinked heavily a few times to try to fully wake up, knowing that if Sirius didn't say whatever was bugging him that he would be tossing and turning all night. "What?"

"It doesn't matter." But Sirius wouldn't look him in the eye.

"That tells me that it matters a whole lot." Remus suppressed a yawn.

"I was just wondering…I-I mean I…" Sirius took a deep breath. "Have you ever, I mean before I went to Azkaban, have you ever thought about…" Sirius fiddled with Remus's hand. "Have you ever thought about adopting a baby?"

Sirius was meant with silence for a long time, making him fidget even more. "Unless the child is infected with… my condition, I can't have a child in the house who is under twelve. The law was passed in 1983. Most babies under the age of three infected with lycanthropy die before the age of two. Their bodies aren't strong enough for the transformation."

Sirius sighed and looked out the window. "So I guess that means yes."

Remus sat up and rested his chin on Sirius's shoulder. "I don't think it's a good idea right now. Because of the war."

"Yeah, I know," Sirius told him quietly. "It's just…It's always something I thought we would do, and now Harry and Kim are fifteen, and it just shocked me. Time sure flies…"

"So this is a midlife crisis?" Remus grinned at the sour look Sirius gave him. "Alright, fine. Not a midlife crisis. But do you really think this is a safe place for a child to grow up right now? I think a child would be safer if with a family that wasn't such a target. Let's talk about it in a couple of years." Remus kissed his neck. "I'm sorry." Sirius gritted his teeth. As soon as the war was over, he was bringing this up again.

* * *

Peter was finally going to be able to show the Dark Lord that he was worthy! He squeaked in excitement. A voice in his head that sounded an awful lot like James had been berating him all day, but as always, Peter chose to ignore it. There was no turning back now, so there was no point in trying to protect his old family. Thinking of all the times Sirius had teased him, Peter trudged on, Bellatrix and a very battered Goyle following him through the forest like lapdogs.

After about twenty minutes, Peter exclaimed, "Right here! It's right here!"

"All I see is trees," Goyle said stupidly.

Bellatrix punched him on the arm. "Of course that's all you see, you idiot! It's warded against all intruders and magic! So if you take another step, they'll know it, so don't move." The look on her face told him that if he took another step, she would snap his neck on the spot. Goyle froze as if he were stunned.

Peter took out the matches while Bellatrix looked for a large piece of wood. This was what Sirius called "His One and Only Talent." He had been to Remus's cottage so many times as a child that he could find it easily on a map, and he had a photographic memory when it came to maps. So even though he couldn't get in, he knew exactly were Remus and his precious family was.

He had neglected to tell the Dark Lord because he had thought it was useless information. Until his master had spoken of something he had read in an alchemy textbook in his youth. Heat may increase the rate of reaction, but after a certain temperature, it can destroy anything. He said the same principle could be applied to magic. If wards became hot enough, eventually, they would collapse on themselves. Once Peter spoke up, the Dark Lord tortured him for a full twenty minutes for withholding such important information. Remus's house as isolated as a farm and since it was three in the morning, they all would be asleep in their cozy cottage, so by the time anyone noticed anything it would be too late.

Peter lit the match when Bellatrix skipped over to him with a thick branch. As the branch caught fire, Wormtail hurled it towards where he knew the cottage was. Instantly, a fiery dome was displayed before them. Bellatrix cackled and then started running around the forest, cheering. The Dark Lord would be here in just an hour, to watch Harry Potter burn.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! The next chapter will make the title of this book make more sense! Please review!**


	9. Grimmauld Place

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: For those of you that didn't read my one shot of how Sirius and Remus got together, Emmeline was Remus's old girlfriend from their 6****th**** to early 7****th**** year.**

**NEW A/N: If you get another email about this chapter, nothing changed. I'm just fixing that I spelled Kreacher wrong.**

Chapter 9

Kim woke up at around two thirty after having a rather nasty nightmare about when she and Cole had rescued Agatha. She was stretched, turned her light on and started flipping through the book that Hermione gave her, trying to find a poison that could be used as a prank and not to put someone in the hospital. She was reading about a poison that made one's teeth fall out when she noticed the light in her room change. Grumbling to herself about having getting out of her warm covers, Kim peeked out the window and stumbled back in fear. "REMUS!" She ran from her room, hearing a ringing noise from the small wards that were in her doorway.

Remus and Sirius came skidding into the living room in a flash. "What's going on?" His voice shook.

Harry came out just as Kim squealed very quickly, "Everything outside is on fire!"

Sirius ran to the window, ripping the white, lacy curtains apart. "Everything around the wards is on fire."

"So what do we do?" Harry asked. He could see the bright orange flames from behind Sirius and wondered fearfully if they would be trapped inside.

"You two are heading to the Weasleys. Remus and I are going to shrink everything and be there in a few minutes." Sirius already had his wand out.

"But if we stay here and help you, we'll get out faster," Harry said nervously. Sirius had already summoned a large leather suitcase. Kim ran in her room and grabbed her stuffed cow named Mooey, clutching it tightly.

"I don't care." Pictures were flying into the suitcase, shrinking as they entered it. "Go through the fireplace before I throw you through." Kim tugged at Harry's sleeve. "NOW Harry James!"

Flinching, Harry ran over to the floo and yelled, "THE BURROW!"

Kim bit her lip. "Make sure you get all my stuffed animals!" Sirius shot her a glare that was even more fearsome than Snape's. Pouting, Kim went into the floo and muttered sadly, "The Burrow."

Remus sighed. "Should we take the furniture?"

"I suppose, but I think we should leave all the junk in the basement," Sirius said wearily as Remus shrunk the sofa to be doll sized. "He's going to be mad at me, isn't he?"

"For a day or two, but not forever." Remus smiled as he moved on to Harry's room. "Remember how much you hated it when Mrs. Potter babied you. You can't treat him like a kid forever, Sirius."

"I know, but we're surrounded by bloody fire, Remus! At least he hates arguing. If he inherited the need to always be right like Lily, we'd all crisp, what are those things Kim likes so much? Chicken nuggets by morning." Sirius looked over to see Remus place Hedwig's cage by the suitcase. The bird hooted anxiously.

"Because he hates arguing, he'll avoid you until he gets over it," Remus called out as he shrunk Harry's dresser. "And it will drive you insane." Gritting his teeth, Sirius didn't reply and set to shrinking everything.

They saved Kim's room for last, and Sirius was amazed by how many things his goddaughter had managed to cram into her room: books of all sorts, enough stuffed animals to open a small zoo, potions ingredients, arts and craft supplies, and—"Ugh! Remus, I am not letting my magic touch that!"

Remus looked at the yellow bra with white lace at the top on the floor. "It isn't going to bite you, Sirius. She probably just forgot to put it in the wash."

"Then you pick it up!" Sirius looked at it as if it just might jump up and somehow fly in his face if he summoned it.

Remus pointed his wand at it before looking away. "We'll tell her it burned if she says anything." Sirius nodded in agreement.

* * *

Harry started pacing while Kim listened to all the Weasley snores. "They'll be here soon."

"And if they're not?" Harry snapped, relaxing a bit when she flinched. "Sorry. I-I don't get why if he thinks it's perfectly safe for him but not for us! I mean, who cares about all that shit! I'd only get the pictures, and then we _all_ should've left!"

Ron suddenly appeared from the kitchen with a muffin in his mouth. Kim waved to him solemnly. "Whif arf youfff…" She glared at him until he took the muffin out of his mouth. "What are you guys doing here?! It's three thirty in the morning!"

Harry opened his mouth to reply when Sirius and Remus emerged from the fireplace. Sirius looked at Ron and his muffin and asked gently, "Can you wake your mum and dad, please? I need to firecall Albus."

Mrs. Weasley bustled out a few minutes later, asking everyone if they wanted breakfast or tea and asking what was wrong. Now that Remus and Sirius were no longer in the house, Harry felt his breathing slow to a normal speed and was able to sit without wanting to get up and start pacing. Sirius sat next to him once he was done talking about it and mumbled, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'd rather not and go on tomorrow pretending that it never happened," Harry replied without looking at him.

Kim plopped down next to Sirius. "When are we going to be able to go home?"

Sirius sighed, sending Remus an apologetic look. "Albus says that the wards will eventually collapse in on themselves. Probably in an hour or two, depending on how hot the fire is. We need to move somewhere less isolated, so if anything like this happens again, the neighbors will see."

"Move?" Kim asked in disbelief. Remus clenched his fists and sagged in defeat on the couch next to her. He was born in that house, and in a few hours, it would be nothing more than a pile of ash.

"I don't want to risk staying here much longer. And right now, there's only one place that Albus deems safe enough." Remus winced, knowing what Sirius was about to say. "Grimmauld Place."

* * *

Voldemort felt a smile breaking into his face as the wolf's house started to collapse under the flames. It was time to see what was left of the Boy Who Lived. With a wave of his hand, Wormtail, Bellatrix, and Goyle started to cast _Aguamenti _all over the area. The flames slowly died down, hissing in defeat as the air filled with silvery smoke that made Wormtail and Goyle cough as if they were on their deathbeds. The Dark Lord patiently waited for the smoke to clear.

When the smoke finally dissipated, the cottage that once stood was a heap of black soot and crumbled rock. Voldemort's eyes scanned the mess for the bodies, knowing that they couldn't have become ash that fast. Impatience getting the best of him, he roared, "_Accio Harry Potter_!" He was met with silence.

"Ma-ma-maybe you have to summon his corpse, not him, my lord," Peter squeaked.

"Perhaps you have given me false information, Wormtail," he spat. "Perhaps you aren't as loyal as I thought you were."

Peter instantly dropped to his knees. "My-my lord, I would never betray you! This is where the wolf lived! If the-they aren't here, then they must have escaped!" Tears started running down his fat, dirty cheeks.

Voldemort kicked aside some rubble to reveal an article of clothing. He lifted it up with disgust. "What is this?"

"It appears to be a brassiere, my lord," Goyle answered dumbly.

The Dark Lord hastily threw it away, letting it land at Bellatrix's feet. She picked it up and cooed, "Aw! It must be little Kimmy's! Wormy wasn't lying one bit!" She pinched Peter's cheek so hard that he yelped.

Seething, Voldemort yelled out, "Then where are they?"

Bellatrix cackled. "Why, my lord, there's only one place where they could be safe from us! They're most likely all sucking their thumbs at Grimmauld Place."

* * *

Kim pouted at the grimy walls of Grimmauld Place. They arrived at five in the morning because they didn't want to endanger the Weasleys, who were thinking about going into hiding with them anyway. Everyone was dozing in the living room since Sirius thought the rest of the house might be too dangerous. Kim just wanted to go to sleep in her own bed, in her own room, but now, it was gone. Now they were in the smelliest house she had ever smelled, and she couldn't sleep a wink with those house elf heads staring at her. AND Sirius would go berserk if she started exploring, so she had nothing left to do but wait for everyone to wake up.

"Does Kreature's eyes deceive him? Oh how his mistress would weep! The blood traitor has returned! And who has he brought with him? Kreature thinks he smells a wolf." Kim's mouth formed an O at the sight of Kreature. She had never seen a house elf so old! Not even Sprink was that old, and Kim could've sworn Kreature had more ear hair!

She crawled off the couch to take a closer look. "My name's Kim," she whispered. "Do you want to keep me company?"

"It talks!" Kreacher mumbled to himself in shock. "She's a half blood! Kreacher can tell! Oh how his mistress would feel, having such a thing in her house!"

"Kreacher! I'm your mistress now!" Kim whispered harshly. "So go get me a pillow!"

Kreacher covered his ears and shook his head violently. "Kreacher does not listen to such filth! How dare you compare yourself to my mistress?"

"I am ten times better than your mistress could ever be! You know why? Because I'm Kimberly Potter! And your mistress is some nobody who pales in comparison to someone as smart, funny, and beautiful as me! I bet she doesn't know how to make a simple tracking potion!" Kim saw Kreacher lunging for her and hissed as she lunged for him in return, just as Sirius was opening his eyes.

By the time Sirius, and everyone else, was fully awake, Kim and Kreacher were rolling around on the floor, trying to strangle each other. "Kreacher!" Sirius snapped. "I command you to stop! Kim! I thought I told you not to talk to the house elf!" Both parties scrambled to their feet comically. Kreature had a scratch on his cheek, and a handful of Kim's hair was in his hand.

"He wouldn't get me a pillow!" Kim yelled. The pair started glaring at each other.

Remus sighed, ignoring her bratty behavior. "I suppose we should see how well the pipes work. Molly is coming over for breakfast…" He checked his watch and tried not to groan. It was only six o'clock. "In two hours."

* * *

Clear water only came out in one of the four bathrooms, and the water was murky in the kitchen. Remus got in the shower first, since in the first bathroom, the sink exploded, and he was covered in brown, foul smelling water. Harry yawned, but knew that if he tried, he wouldn't have been able to fall back asleep anyway. It wasn't every day you woke up to your sister wrestling an elderly house elf.

Once they were all cleaned up, they were finally allowed to explore the house. Kim zoomed to the first room she could get into and emerged about ten seconds later with a rather angry doxy in her hair. "Get it out! Get it out! I'm gonna die!"

"Hold still!" Harry called out, trying to point his wand at her hair and not her head. He saw Sirius grab a heavy book to hit it with. "Sirius, I don't think—" But it was too late, Sirius swung with so much force that Harry winced as he hit Kim in the head. She fell to the ground with a thud.

Remus quickly stunned the doxy, eying Sirius who tried to make himself as small as possible. "Sirius?" he asked lightly.

"Yes, Remus?" Sirius replied quietly.

"Did you just hit our goddaughter so hard in the head that she lost consciousness?" Harry noted a bit of exasperation in his voice.

"Maybe?" Sirius knew he had nowhere to run.

Harry frowned. "One time, she got hit in the head from a hippogriff's talons, and she had a seizure…"

Remus's eyes widened in fear, making Harry wonder if he should have said anything. She was rather still this time. "Well, this is just great, Sirius!"

"Doxies are poisonous! And believe it or not, I do not have the strength of a hippogriff!" Sirius retorted indignantly as Kim started to stir. "See? She's fine! And not poisoned, thanks to me!"

Kim sat up drowsily. "My head hurts…"

"But you don't have a doxy in your hair," Sirius cut in before Remus could say anything.

She blinked at him. "Oh, that's good." She looked about ready to fall back asleep but jumped up when she heard Mrs. Weasley yelling at them to come eat.

"I'll see if she has anything for a concussion," Remus said tiredly, sending Sirius a dark look as he headed down the stairs.

As any mother who had twins like Fred and George would, Mrs. Weasley had a potion for Kim's concussion in her kitchen, which she got after a quick floo trip. With a motherly smile, she gave Kim the potion, which she sniffed and wrinkled her nose but drank after Remus gave her a stern look. Mrs. Weasley put her hands on her hips and spoke in a voice loud enough to get everyone's attention. "We have to start with the bedrooms! We can't all fit in the living room. How bad are they, Sirius?"

"Doxies," Sirius replied grimly. "That's about as far as we got."

"When's the last time someone lived here?" Harry asked curiously. Some of the walls were so dirty that he wasn't even sure what color they were originally, and when Ron tried to sit down in one of the chairs, it collapsed under him.

"Sirius's mum died in 1985," Remus said quietly. "I think Kreacher has lost his mind from not talking to anyone for ten years, so try to be patient with him." Sirius snorted.

"How am I supposed to be nice to him, if he doesn't do what I say?" Kim asked while ripping apart her bacon. Remus decided to ignore her again. "Hey! Well, whatever. Me and Kreacher aren't on speaking terms right now."

Harry grinned. "I can't wait until Hermione gets here." Kim's eyes widened. Hermione's coming? But she hadn't even started her homework yet!

* * *

In case there was any type of problem, four people were set to each room for cleaning. The way Sirius kept going on and on about items being cursed, Harry was surprised that he let him clean a room with Kim, Ginny, and Ron without adult supervision. _Maybe he felt guilty about last night._ Either way, Harry was happy that Sirius thought he could handle being in a room without his godfather breathing down his neck. Before they embarked on their cleaning adventure, Sirius drilled into their head what felt like a hundred times, "If you think anything's cursed cast _revelabunt maledicam_, and then get me if it starts glowing red. I don't care if it's a pair of old socks. Check everything but the dust. And if the dust looks out of the ordinary, check that too." Kim was behind Harry making funny faces when Sirius had said that, and Harry had to bite his cheek so hard it bled to keep from laughing and getting the lecture of a lifetime.

They were in what Sirius begrudgingly admitted was his brother's old room. Harry felt his eyebrows reach his hairline, but from the look on Sirius's face, he decided not to comment. Kim was too busy sneezing to say anything, so Sirius high tailed it out of there before she could ask. Shaking her head, she handed Ginny a soapy scrubber, and they set to work on the floors. Meanwhile, Harry and Ron picked up the moldy, foul smelling mattress to send it tumbling downstairs with all the others in the house. They would get the box spring next.

Kim growled as she scrubbed extra hard on a spot with suspicious looking black fuzz. Ginny smiled at the look of determination on her face and the fact that she was trying to scrub under an old dresser. She was going to be sore tomorrow.

They wound up having to scrub the mildew covered wallpaper off the walls, which had to be a team effort. Ron was whining about lunch within the hour, and Harry kept sending fearful looks at the ceiling, wondering if it was moldy and on the brink of collapse. It looked fine but looks can be deceiving.

Once the walls were done, they decided it was time to be nosy and go through Sirius's brother's things. They found some old Quidditch stuff, and even a picture of him with the Slytherin team. "He's a seeker like you!" Kim poked Harry what seemed like a thousand times while Harry looked at what seemed like a scrawnier version of Sirius. He wondered if Sirius didn't mention him because he was a Death Eater. It was the first thing that came to mind when he thought about Slytherin. Was Sirius's brother out there when Harry faced Voldemort in June? Or was he in Azkaban, a few cells away from where Sirius sat not too long ago?

Ginny interrupted his thoughts when she cried out softly, "Oh! This is so beautiful!" She held up a silver locket.

Ron threw a disgusted look at her. "It has a green snake on it in the shape of an 'S'! It's probably cursed."

Ginny fingered the silvery chain. "Just because it's green and has a snake on it, doesn't mean I have to hate it, Ron!" The green actually reminded her a bit of Harry's eyes.

"It practically screams Slytherin!" Ron snapped.

"Me and Ginny can wear them like friendship necklaces!" Kim said hotly. She grabbed the necklace from her neck that Draco gave her and held it out to prove it to him. Ron looked to Harry for help.

"Er, well…" Harry didn't really know what to say. There was no way in hell he would get away with telling Ginny what to wear, and he really wanted to avoid Ron and Ginny fighting if he could. "Let's make sure it's not cursed first." Ginny rolled her eyes but held the necklace out for him to test. "_Revelabunt maledicam!_" Nothing happened, so Harry shrugged. "I guess Sirius wouldn't mind. He said to chuck anything that isn't cursed."

"You can't be serious, Harry!" Ron yelled, but his voice became quieter when Ginny gave her a murderous look. "Go on then. Wear it in front of Mum and Dad and see what happens!" He smirked when Ginny's face fell.

"Well, I can wear it when they're not around!" Ginny blushed at having something she wanted to hide from her parents. "I can wear it at school! It's just a bloody locket!"

Ron threw his hands up in the air. "Whatever. Let's see if lunch is ready!

Heading down for lunch, the four found Sirius sitting at the dining room table, staring at a woman as if she was a ghost while she was staring back the way Harry remembered Draco looking at the Gryffindor table first year after they won the House Cup. She had light brown hair with piercing dark brown eyes. Harry couldn't shake the fact that something about her was familiar.

Molly kicked open the door that the kitchen was behind with a large tray with sandwiches in both of her hands. "Emmeline! We-we weren't expecting you!"

Emmeline Vance smiled kindly at Mrs. Weasley. "It was my fault. I'm such a goof! I could've sworn that letter that Albus gave me said 12:00pm, so I came on my lunch break."

"It said 12:00am, as in midnight," Sirius said in a strained voice. Kim pushed pass Harry to get a better look at what the hold up was. She frowned.

"Oh…" Mrs. Weasley placed the tray on the table. "There's plenty for everyone, Deary, you're more than welcome to stay for lunch." Harry could've sworn Emmeline smirked at Sirius.

They sat in awkward silence while Ron helped himself to a sandwich. Kim kept shooting Emmeline death glares, and Sirius looked paler than the moon. After about five minutes, Remus arrived with Mr. Weasley, covered in soot. "Emmeline," Remus gasped out. Sirius clenched his fists.

Emmeline grinned. "I'll be back at midnight. You know how I always skim through letters and botch up details." She winked at him.

Kim grabbed a sandwich and slammed it on her plate. "Since you aren't eating, you can leave now."

"Kim!" Remus looked both upset and a little bewildered, but Harry saw Sirius wearing the faintest of smiles. Kim opened her mouth to reply, but thankfully, Ginny intervened and covered her mouth.

Emmeline acted like Kim wasn't acting so rude and grabbed a sandwich. "I could never turn down something Mrs. Weasley made!"

Remus sat across from Sirius like he usually did but winced when he realized that meant sitting next to Emmeline. Trying not to choke on the tension, Remus watched the rest of the Weasleys join them and started talking about the sleeping arrangements. "So if there were no problems in the rooms we found today, that means we have three rooms to sleep in."

"Actually…" Fred's mouth twitched while George scowled. "There were some doxies in a rather large pair of bloomers that attacked Georgie's face! The room we were in charge of is absolutely infested. We didn't even have enough spray to knock them all out."

Remus grimaced. "I suppose we will be spending the rest of the day in Sirius's mother's room."

"I can help," Emmeline piped in. "I took the rest of the day off because I didn't know how long the meeting would last."

"But then the room would be too crowded," Kim told her coldly. "You should enjoy the rest of your day off." Harry kicked her shin and snorted when she pouted. "But I guess you can stay if you want." She shifted her eyes slowly towards Emmeline's, telling her that Kim would rather her be in Antarctica without a coat.

"I'd love to help." Emmeline smiled prettily, even though anger briefly flashed in her eyes.

"How nice of you, Em," Remus said with false cheer. Sirius narrowed his eyes when Remus used Emmeline's old nickname. "We'll most likely be done by dinner." He bit his tongue when he realized what he just said.

"I would love to stay for dinner!" Sirius gritted his teeth. Of course she would _love_ to spend pretty much the whole day with Remus.

"We're having liver covered in horseradish with a side of spinach," Kim informed her grumpily.

"That's what you'll be having if you don't stop being so nasty," Remus warned, wondering if Sirius had managed to tell her anything. Sending Emmeline one last evil look, Kim decided that now was the time to focus on her sandwich.

The room that was infested was doxies was the room that Kim went in earlier, and the room that Sirius's dearest mother both lived and died in. Since Sirius was in a bad mood, Kim held off on asking if he was born in there. Instead, she pretended that the doxies were in a water gun fight with her, and she picked up the nearest spray bottle to defeat the tiny menaces.

Harry walked over to her after about thirty seconds later when she needed to refill the spray bottle with black Doxycide. "So is there a reason you don't like Emmeline?" he asked quietly.

Kim looked over to where Emmeline was laughing after telling Remus a joke. She slapped him on the back good naturedly, making Sirius's eyes blaze and Remus flinch nervously. "Sirius doesn't like her, so I hate her by default." she whispered, aiming her now full spray bottle in Emmeline's direction and pretending to shoot her. "She's a home wrecker."

Harry started to laugh but quickly bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself. "If you say so. I thought maybe you knew her. Something about her is familiar, but I just can't put my finger on it. It's weird."

Kim grabbed Harry by the shoulders and shook him slightly. "We have to be so mean to her that she'll never want to come back!"

"But she has to, because she's a member of the Order." Harry wondered if Kim was blowing things way out of proportion. Maybe Emmeline did have a crush on Remus, but that didn't mean that Remus was going to return her feelings. "Besides, she probably will only be around at night from now on." Kim narrowed her eyes like she didn't like the sound of that, let out a battle cry, and charged towards a group of doxies that were circling Ron.

* * *

Dinner was a rather quiet affair, or at least, that's what Harry wished he could say. Emmeline seemed to have wanted to get on Kim's good side, which was like trying to get Satan to read the Bible. "I went to school with your mum, you know. We were dear friends. Maybe we can go shopping one day, and I can tell you all about her. You really could use a mother figure." Sirius looked like he saw red.

Kim mixed her peas in with her mashed potatoes, hoping she wouldn't taste them that way. "I don't need a mother figure. Mrs. Weasley takes me to buy tampons." Ron started choking on his food, leading to Ginny thumping him on his back so hard that Harry was sure Ron was going to have a fist shaped bruise tomorrow.

Emmeline opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to think of what to say. Remus seemed too stunned to admonish his goddaughter. "Well, if you ever want to talk…" she finally responded without much confidence.

"Then I'll talk to Mrs. Weasley while we're in line at the store," Kim filled in for her. Ginny ducked under the table so no one would see her laughing. Mrs. Weasley was redder than Fred and George ever managed to turn her when she was angry with them.

Harry decided now was the best time to change the subject. "So Hermione hopes to be a prefect this year." Fred and George scowled at the thought of Hermione bossing them around and telling them to stop pranking.

"Really?" Remus sent him a grateful look. "It's a lot of responsibility. Is she still taking all those classes?"

"She dropped Divination, third year, as you may have heard, and I think she dropped Muggle Studies, although she doesn't like to talk about it. She thinks of it as a failure." Harry looked at Sirius cautiously. "I'd prefer to stick to Quidditch though."

Sirius smirked, brightening up for the first time today. "Oh? I am so ashamed."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm just saying that being a prefect is not for me, so don't be all disappointed when I don't get it."

"_When_?" Sirius said with false sorrow. "My boy is such an underachiever. Next thing you know, he's going to be going to wild parties and won't come home until noon the next day."

"I'll be home by eleven thirty, Sirius." Harry smiled. "I wouldn't want to miss breakfast."

* * *

Kim and Ginny got one of the bedrooms since Kim's behavior reminded Remus that she was grounded. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley got Walburga's old room once it was up to code, and Harry, Ron, and Fred and George squeezed into the remaining room. Their beds were transfigured into bunk beds and their old mattresses were brought in and adjusted to fit properly. Sirius and Remus remained in the living room for one more night.

Ginny placed the locket on her dresser as she started brushing the knots out of her hair. "Sucks that there's only one bathroom. But at least there isn't four of us like the boys." Kim stared at the gleaming locket. It was rather pretty, but it was so old looking that Kim wondered if it had any ghosts attached to it. The next day she would make a note to herself: thoughts about ghosts and going to bed minutes later definitely should not mix.

Shaking her head to try to send away imaginary ghosts, Kim made a face at Ginny. "Fred and George put dungbombs in there when Ron went in!"

"Ugh! Gross. You're lucky you only have one brother." Ginny flopped down on her bed. "Good night."

"G'night."

_Kim had to say that this was one of the worst dreams she ever had. At first, everything was dark, so dark that it was almost suffocating. Then all of the sudden, everything was a bright white. There were no walls, no floors. Everything was just…white. The light was so blinding that it took her a while to realize she was naked. She frowned. It better not be one of those dreams where she was naked, and no one else realized, but she would still be embarrassed. It was so… cliché._

_Then, something slithered towards her, making her skin crawl. Kim took a step back, but there was nowhere to go. She clenched her fists as it finally started to slow down. The snake was bigger than her, dark green, and was hissing at her menacingly. Kim took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting for the snake to strike. Once it bit her, she would wake up, and everything would be okay._

_But she didn't wake up. Kim opened her eyes to see the snake's mouth over her head, widening grotesquely. She tried to scream in horror, but no sound came out. She could only hear the sound of the snake swallowing her whole._

_She was met with darkness once again, but this time, Kim felt even more suffocated than ever. Everything was pitch black again, and she couldn't even move. It was like she was tightly wrapped in a cocoon. No matter how much she struggled, she couldn't break free from the darkness. And then she woke up._

Kim sat up with her mouth wide open, as if she were silently screaming. Clamping her mouth shut, she looked over to see if Ginny was still sleeping, and the first thing she saw was the locket. Since Ginny didn't say anything, Kim grabbed her blanket and bolted down the stairs.

Sirius and Remus were just wrapping up the Order meeting and about to lay down on the two sofas in the living room when Kim zoomed down and jumped on the arm chair next to the sofas. She curled up in a ball and covered herself with the blanket that Harry gave her for her birthday. Remus looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. She had better not be just getting to sleep. "Is something wrong?"

"Nightmare!"

Sirius yawned. "That's it?"

"I was being digested! And I was naked!" Kim curled herself into a tighter ball.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Damn. I hate those ones."

"It's not funny!" Kim yelled under the blanket.

"Alright! That's enough!" Remus said tiredly. "Let's just go to sleep."

* * *

Draco sighed sadly as he started packing his bags to return to the Weasleys. At least, the Weasleys lived with Kim now, so it wouldn't be so bad. There was something that he desperately wanted to ask his mother, but since they were about to face the Dark Lord again, she had stuck to Father like glue, and Draco didn't want his father to know what he wanted to tell Narcissa.

There was a ring that Narcissa kept, but never wore. Draco remembered when he was about eight or nine, he had asked about it. She had smiled at him sadly and said, "You can give it to the woman you want to marry when you're older." Then she simply ruffled his hair and asked him to show her how well he could fly on his new broom.

It was the most beautiful ring he laid eyes on. The glimmering stone was of the richest of greens, and the metal that held it was made of the shiniest of silvers. But that wasn't why Draco thought it was so stunning.

The runes that covered the metal were the most complicated he had ever seen. He didn't understand what any of them meant, but the intricate pattern of swirls and symbols mesmerized him. Fingering the ring with a smile on his face, Draco shut his mother's jewelry box and fled from his parent's room.

He would talk to his mother about it the next time he got a chance to be alone with her. Clearly, it was some sort of promise ring. Narcissa never wore it, so it was probably replaced by her engagement ring when Lucius proposed. Draco felt his heart flutter when he put the ring in his pocket. He would give it to Kim on the train in September so he wouldn't have Black or Lupin breathing down his neck and couldn't wait to see the look on her face when he gave it to her.

Draco was sure his mother wouldn't mind. It was only a ring after all, a ring that she never wore. He was sure when he told her about it that she would act all embarrassing and motherly, talking about how her baby was all grown up, blah, blah, blah. Draco rolled his eyes at the thought. But his mother would be happy, he knew that much.

Unfortunately, Draco couldn't have been more wrong, and when Narcissa found out, it was already too late. She wouldn't be proud of her son. She would be devastated.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Ginny isn't wearing the locket yet, but she will be once she gets to Hogwarts! And as for the "promise" ring…You'll see! :) Please review!**


	10. Shopping, Bullies, and a Sirius Tattoo

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 10

Kim grinned as she skipped merrily down the stairs to breakfast. Remus had let her sleep late since there was a long line to the only bathroom this morning, so they were having breakfast at nearly eleven. Because of this, Ron looked ready to pass out from hunger at eating for the first time since dinner so late. Giggling, Kim poked him with her fork nonstop until the meal started. Ron groaned pitifully but didn't budge.

"Honestly." Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes and put a plate of fried eggs in front of her youngest son. He immediately sat up and started digging in. "Hermione is coming in one week's time. By then, I want two more bathrooms ready and at least one more bedroom. And I warn you, we did the easy stuff yesterday."

"I still don't understand how a family of garden gnomes managed to move into my old room," Sirius mumbled bitterly, poking at his breakfast without his usual enthusiasm.

Harry smiled. "Maybe Kreacher let them in."

"I wouldn't put it past him." Sirius looked at the dreadful walls in disgust. "I can't wait to get out of here…"

Kim bounced in her seat while Harry fidgeted guiltily. "Then let's go somewhere today!"

"We still have to make the house livable." Remus grinned when the table groaned under the small weight of their breakfast. "But perhaps we need to replace a few things. And buy a few more mattresses since we only have the three from home." Sirius perked up.

Mrs. Weasley waved them off. "Go. Arthur and Ron will fix a bathroom. Ginny and I will start on your old room. And Fred and George will get rid of the table and check out the state of your father's study."

Sirius blushed and suddenly became very interested in the mug that held his coffee. "I apologize in advance for any offensive material, Molly." Ginny and Kim looked at each other and giggled, making Sirius look up and glare at them. "It bugged my mother to have Muggle stuff in the house, so I took a bunch of magazine pages of some Muggle women in bathing suits and put a Permanent Sticking charm on them." He smirked at Ginny's disappointed face.

Wondering how awkward it would be if Sirius and Remus went to stay in that room, Harry got up to get ready to go a few minutes later. He stopped in the middle of the hallway though, when he noticed a portrait of an absolutely horrid woman staring at him. "Er, hello."

She barred buttercup yellow teeth at him, causing Harry to involuntarily take a step back. "I thought I told you, Potter, to never set foot in my house again!" she hissed. "You turned my poor Reggie's hair fuchsia and shrunk the doorway so my husband would get stuck."

"I, er, think you're talking about my dad…" Harry trailed off. He supposed this was Sirius's mum, and from what he heard, she was, well, a bitch.

She blinked at him, and Harry noticed how blood shot her eyes were and how she seemed to have very few of her eyelashes left. "You're Potter spawn?" she spat. Harry nodded cautiously, not entirely prepared for what came next. "TRAITOROUS BLOOD! SOILED BLOOD IN MY **HOUUSSSSSSSEEEEEEEE! **HOW DARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU SET FOOT IN MY NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT HOME?! THE POTTER NAME DESTOYED BY THAT MUDBLOOD, AND ITS FILTH DARES TO PUT EVEN A TOE IN MY HOUSE!" Harry stood with his back against the wall by the time Sirius ran in and started yanking on the portrait, trying to rip it off the wall. "OH EVEN BETTER! MY SON! MY PATHETIC SON, WHO CAN'T EVEN HANDLE A WIFE, LET ALONE A FAMILY!"

"_Silencio!_" Remus leaned in the doorway, all the Weasleys and Kim peering behind him. Sirius mum continued to scream, even though no one could hear her. "I supposed she copied your Permanent Sticking charm idea, Padfoot."

"Just fucking great." Sirius started stomped up the stairs nearby, growling when one caved in and yelled down to Kim and Harry, "Be ready in fifteen minutes, I need to get out of here."

Kim squeezed herself between Remus and ran up to Harry, looking at Mrs. Black, who appeared to be having a fit over the fact that no one could hear her. "Whoa! I never got any to yell at me that loud before! What'd you say?"

Harry bit his lip and raised his eyebrows at the portrait. "Well, I started off by saying hello."

"Hmmm…" Kim eyed Mrs. Black, deciding to accept the challenged she challenged herself with and wondering how she could get Mrs. Black to yell even louder. "She'll have a marker mustache by tomorrow." Shaking his head, Harry ran upstairs to get ready.

* * *

They took the Knight Bus to Diagon Alley in search of a new table that was large enough to fit an entire Weasley family and then some and new mattresses. Sirius seemed to be taking as long as possible since he didn't want to go home, and soon enough, Kim was sound asleep on a mattress in the furniture store. Harry was considering asking Sirius why he would need a mattress that fluffed the pillows for you when he heard a little girl whisper loudly to her mother, "Mummy! That-that's Harry Potter! Daddy said he's gone looney!"

"Hush!" Harry turned around to see the girl's mother look at him fearfully. "Let's get you some ice cream! We'll come back later." She hurried her daughter out of the store as if it were on fire. Harry sighed as he heard murmurs from everyone in the store. What did they think? That he was going to start off his plan for world domination by taking over the furniture shop?

"Maybe you can drag Kim out of here and go over to the Quality Quidditch Supplies. I'm sure you wouldn't want Sirius screaming at everyone in here," Remus said quietly. Harry looked over to see that Sirius was already tensing up. Nodding, he nudged Kim awake, chuckling when she bolted up.

"I am ready to defeat the brussel sprout army, Minister Snape!" She narrowed her eyes, realizing that she was sleeping on the display mattress in the shop and not ridding the world of the evils of vegetables. "You guys always wake me up during the best part," she grumbled, hopping off the bed and leaving the store without asking what was going on.

"People were staring," Harry muttered quietly as they headed towards the Quidditch supplies shop. "They think I'm some sort of psycho or something."

Kim stomped in a mud puddle, crinkling her nose. "Who cares? Once they know the truth they'll be slobbering at your feet, and you'll get to kick them in the face!"

"I don't want to kick anyone in the face!" Harry felt his face heat up when he realized how loudly he said that, and people in the street started staring at them. "I just want to be left alone," he finished almost inaudibly.

* * *

Kim hummed to herself as Harry went Quidditch crazy in the store. Sometimes she wished she wasn't so afraid of heights, so she could see what all the fuss was about, but alas, she often had to take a Pepper Up Potion just to get up to the stands, so she wasn't going to be a seeker anytime soon. And of course, while Harry was at the other side of the store, she had to run into bullies.

They were three seventh year Slytherins and a Ravenclaw, but she didn't know that. All Kim knew was that they weren't walking up to her to ask her what her favorite Quidditch team was. "So what's it like, living with someone completely out of their mind?" All his friends laughed like trolls going through puberty.

Kim looked up to see a rather tall and muscular boy, with short, light brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a long nose that was a bit on the large side. "I don't know. Why don't you ask your parents?" She went back to looking at some dusty old books about when the Chudley Cannons used to be successful while his friends oohed and laughed at him.

"How would you like to take back what you said, you pathetic little rodent?" he snarled. Kim saw Harry look up from the display of beater bats that had previously held his attention.

"How would you like me to rip your dick off, you fucking piece of shit?" Kim felt her face turn red, but from embarrassment or anger, she didn't know. Harry started head towards her.

The guy, who Kim would forever call Fucking Piece of Shit in her head, smiled and said flirtatiously, "Well, if you're into that…" Kim's mouth formed a perfect O and her eyes popped out of her head as his friends started jeering, and Harry approached them.

"Is there a problem?" By Harry's tone, Kim wondered if they were going to make it out of here without getting arrested.

Fucking Piece of Shit took a few minutes to stop laughing hysterically to say joyfully, "Not at all mate, your sister was just saying how much she wanted to put her hands on my dick—Agh!" Kim wondered if Harry's fist was momentarily possessed by Sirius as it smashed into the bully's stomach. He immediately fell to the ground and started gagging.

"Let's get out of here!" Kim yelled anxiously. She grabbed Harry's sleeve, and they were out of the shop before anyone realized what happened.

As any delinquents would after committing a crime, Harry and Kim headed straight to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Harry appreciated that Kim didn't say a word about what happened and ordered them strawberry milkshakes the minute they sat down. "So, do you think Sirius noticed we're gone yet?" Harry wanted to go home as soon as possible. What was he thinking? That guy could press charges, and the Ministry was already after his ass. He would be found guilty for sure.

"He pry noticed the minute we left the store," Kim said, licking at the whipped cream on her milkshake happily. "He'll use his overprotective senses to find us, and then we'll eat milkshakes until the sun goes down!"

"Ah, yes! You were right Remus! Here they are perfectly fine, and not captured by Death Eaters like I thought!" Kim and Harry jumped and spun around to see Sirius's annoyed face. "Don't worry. This is Remus's fault, not yours." Remus looked at them guiltily, but more guilty over the fact that he got caught.

"Like how it was your fault that you knocked me unconscious yesterday," Kim chimed in cheerfully.

"Exactly," Sirius replied as he sat down and ordered coconut ice cream with gummy worms.

Sighing and looking to the heavens, Remus ordered chocolate ice cream and pretended that Sirius didn't just have a nervous breakdown, yelling out Harry and Kim's names in the street until his throat burned. They couldn't have gotten far. One of his former students in Quality Quidditch Supplies was moaning about how Harry Potter had forced him to lose his lunch. "So is there any particular reason why you just punched a Ravenclaw prefect so hard in the stomach that he threw up?"

Harry fidgeted, but before he could reply, Kim yelled, "He was saving my life from a sexual predator!" Sirius started choking on his ice cream. "The guy was so mean and turned a perfectly good threat into something dirty!"

Once Sirius managed to swallow, he gasped out, "What happened?"

"I told you! Harry saved my life!"

"Details!"

"Oh, okay!" Kim smiled, tapping her chin. "It was a bright and sunny day when Harry Potter and his beautiful sister Kimberly Lily Potter decided that they were going to party in Quality Quidditch Supplies while Sirius Black looked at every mattress in the history of history, and Remus Lupin tried his best to be patient with him, something Kimberly Lily Potter is never able to do. The Quidditch store was dusty, but not too dusty, because the heroine, Kimberly Lily Potter, didn't sneeze once, so while Harry Potter was drooling over some shinny beater bats and snitches, Kimberly Lily—"

"If you say Kimberly Lily Potter one more time, I'm going to pour that milkshake on your head," Sirius growled. "I want to know what happened so I know that you weren't exaggerating when I go back into the store and kill that guy!"

"She was," Harry answered instantly.

"Was not!"

"Yeah, you were! You can't get Sirius to kill people just because they say things you don't like!" Harry wanted to get out of Diagon Alley as soon as possible. Maybe then there would be less of a chance of him getting in trouble with the authorities.

Kim pursed her lips. "But you didn't like what he said, and you-you punched him so hard you made him sick!"

"How about you tell Sirius what happened after we get home?" Remus smiled sadly at how put out Sirius looked at the thought of going home. "We've gotten everything we need. Unless there's anything else we need to do?"

Kim gave him a thoughtful look. She really didn't want to go 'home' since she still felt like a guest there and probably would for a long time, unlike the cottage, where she instantly felt at home. Suddenly, she perked up and said brightly, "Sirius never got his tattoo!"

Sirius beamed while Remus's eyes widened. Harry couldn't help but laugh softly at the look of shock on Remus's face. "You gave him a certificate for one last Christmas."

"No." Remus shook his head in disbelief. "There's no way I would do that."

Kim started drinking her milkshake really fast so they could head off to Hogsmeade, and Sirius started laughing at her scrunched up brain freeze face less than a minute later. "I'm gonna be laughing at you in a couple minutes when you're squealing in pain like a pig!"

"No really. Is this some kind of joke guys?" Remus had always been against Sirius getting stuff like that ever since they were nineteen, and Sirius got a terrible infection after trying to pierce his own ear.

"Nope!" Sirius replied cheerfully. "I am going to get the coolest thing ever too!"

"You have no idea what you're getting, do you?" Harry asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

"Not at all my boy, not at all."

* * *

They flooed to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade from the Leaky Cauldron and all the way to the tattoo place, Kim was making suggestions that Sirius constantly shot down for being too girly: a rose, a butterfly, a baby wolf, love written in Chinese. Harry tuned her out after she suggested an armadillo eating tortilla chips.

Once they got closer Dusty's Tattoo Parlor, Sirius started getting quiet, leading Harry to believe he was scared of the needle. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Sirius clenched the doorknob and went in. Kim giggled as she skipped in happily behind him. Harry looked at Remus, who looked more than appalled at the thought of Sirius getting a spur of the moment tattoo and tried his best not to laugh as they headed into the tattoo parlor.

For someone named Dusty, the owner kept the parlor pretty clean. Almost too clean, like the place was a hospital or something. The walls were bleach white and the floor was a dark gray without a spot on it. The reception area had dark blue leather couches for them to sit on. Dusty wore a Muggle suit and looked like what Kim would later describe as a serial killer. He was writing at a dark wooden desk like any other businessman. Sirius gulped. "He-hello…"

Dusty removed rectangular spectacles and smiled, evilly, in Kim's opinion. "Ah Remus! I guess Sirius didn't chicken out like you thought he would!" Remus smiled weakly back. He had no idea who this guy was. Dusty turned to Sirius. "Any ideas?"

"Um, maybe." Sirius looked absolutely terrified as Dusty led him to a room in the back.

"Is Sirius going to die?" Kim whispered.

Harry looked at the door that Sirius would disappear behind for three hours. "If he does…what a way to go."

Harry was starting to feel stiff after an hour since Kim had been sleeping on him for forty five minutes when he heard Sirius cry out. Kim poked her head up like a prairie dog, looking around and taking a moment to remember where she was. "What if Sirius is getting chopped into little bits?"

"I think he would scream louder than that," Remus said tiredly. "I can't imagine what's taking so long."

"He must be getting a HUGE one!" Kim grinned as they heard Sirius curse. "Maybe a unicorn on his back!"

"I sure hope not." Remus looked at the door fearfully.

Sirius emerged about two hours later, looking like he had been hit with a rather painful curse. He tried to smile at them but swayed a little instead. Remus sighed. Sometimes, Sirius could be such a baby. "Alright, let's get you home, love." Kim threw her hands in the air. After all that, they weren't even going to get to see what it was!

The fireplace was down the basement (Dusty said it made too much of a mess to keep it upstairs), and Remus had to half carry Sirius through it. He reached into his pocket and handed Harry and Kim two bright red cards. "It'll allow you into the house," he muttered before calling out, "Grimmauld Place."

Once they were in the living room, Sirius threw himself onto the couch, causing a cloud of gray-brown dust to form around him. Kim made smaller clouds when she started kicking the couch for him to get up. "I wanna see! I wanna see what you got!"

"Your accent is atrocious," Sirius mumbled as if he were dying on his death bed. He feebly reached for the buttons on his shirt. "I can't do it! You're going to have to wait until tomorrow."

"I shall never wait!" Kim whipped out her wand and ripped Sirius's shirt off with a flick. At that exact moment, Draco walked into the living room to greet his girlfriend.

"What the fuck?" he yelled. Kim froze with Sirius's shirt floating in mid-air. Her eyes turned slowly to his.

"I NEED to see his tattoo," Kim wailed. "And _nothing_ will stop me!" She looked down at the tattoo and frowned. "I don't get it." She grabbed Sirius shirt and threw it at him, making him yelp as if she pegged a rock at him.

"That's it?" Harry asked. "After all that, after ripping his shirt off, that's all you have to say!"

She crossed her arms. "Well, it's weird looking!"

Rolling his eyes, Remus pulled off the shirt that was covering Sirius's tattoo. "What the hell, Sirius?" It seemed to be a picture of the full moon with some sort of eye covering it. There was a dirt path surrounded by dark green grass and a few dandelions here and there under it with hoof prints heading towards the moon. The picture was surrounded by crimson feathers.

"I don't think I have the strength to explain it, Moony." Sirius covered his eyes with his arm, wincing as he did it. The tattoo went from his heart all the way down to the beginning of his waist.

"It looks like you tried to smash everyone in the family in one tattoo." Harry grinned. "But you forgot yourself." Sirius moaned. There was no way he would add on to the tattoo just to put himself in.

Kim's eyes widened. "Then where am I? Because if I'm not in there, I'm running away from home!"

"The eye is a lion's eye." Harry watched Kim narrow her eyes, wondering if he was right. Harry smirked. "And the footprints look like a stags?"

"And a doe," Sirius whimpered.

"While this is touching," Draco drawled. "I don't see why you had to rip his shirt off." He shot Kim a glare.

She smiled at his sour face. "Did you miss me?" she asked sweetly, completely changing the subject.

Falling for it, Draco blushed. "Of course I did!" Sirius growled feebly as Mrs. Weasley announced that it was dinner time. He quickly hopped off his deathbed…or death couch and practically ran into the kitchen. So much for being in unbearable pain.

A few moments later, they heard Mrs. Weasley's voice berating him. "Sirius Black! How dare you walk in here indecent! It's bad enough that my daughter and I found a pair of women's under garments in your room while cleaning today."

Sirius nervously replied, "I can assure, Molly, that the woman all those years ago was not taken advantage of. If anything, I was the drunk one!"

"How dare you?! And what did you do to your torso? Is that what took you so long? Did you even make sure your kids were given a proper lunch? No!" she screeched before he could answer. "I bet you just gave them ice cream!"

"A-a-actually, Molly, the kids had milkshakes. Remus and I were the ones who had ice cream," he responded feebly.

"That is not a proper meal!" she shouted.

Kim grinned and grabbed Draco's hand, rushing into the kitchen to see Sirius's dumbstruck face after getting a stern talking to. Maybe Grimmauld Place wasn't that bad, as long as they had each other.

* * *

Sirius was seething during the Order meeting that night. Albus kept hinting that Remus should be in contact with some neutral werewolf packs, and as usual, Emmeline insisted on sitting next to Remus. Kingsley would be guarding the Prophecy this week and Tonks and Calvin the one after that. Sirius was about to ask how to talk to Harry about the prophecy when he heard a blood curdling scream coming from his mother's portrait. Smiling, Albus concluded the meeting and scurried off before Sirius could tell him to stay a moment.

He stomped in the room to find Kim torturing his mother at two in the morning with a black marker. Normally, he would've applauded such efforts, but when Sirius turned around, he saw Emmeline helping Remus out of his seat and up to his room. "What are you doing?" he hissed. "The full moon is in a week!"

Kim stopped in mid-mustache. "But I didn't wake Remus up! He already was up!"

"And he doesn't need you stressing him out!"

Kim scowled at him. "I'm not stressing him out. I'm stressing you out because you're being a butt!" Sirius could've sworn he saw his mother, who was now sporting half a Hitler mustache, smirk.

"If you're going to pull crap like this, try to do it a week after the full moon." Sirius turned heel and left, leaving his goddaughter worrying behind him. Remus started feeling worn down the week before the full moon? And then he was sick the week after? But that meant he is sick half his life! Feeling a lump in her throat, Kim ran up the stairs to toss and turn about her new revelation for the rest of the night.

* * *

Harry woke up at six in the morning the next day to find Kim shaking him. Once his groan signaled that he was awake, she shoved his glasses on his face. Harry blinked until he could fully open his eyes and saw dark circles under her own. She had yet to go sleep. "What is it now?"

"Remus is always sick!" Her bottom lip trembled. "And there's no way to make him better!"

Harry sighed and sat up. "He wouldn't want you worrying about him…"

"But Sirius—"

"Always makes things worse than they seem. Talk to Remus about it in a couple of hours. For now, just try to get some sleep. Your schedule is in reverse." Harry was just drifting back to sleep when she slammed the door behind her.

* * *

Remus couldn't help but sigh when he woke up in Sirius's old room. He had cast a Permanent Sticking charm of a magazine clipping of a naked girl on the ceiling when he was thirteen, so it was the first and last thing Remus saw every day. He couldn't wait until another room was cleared out.

He felt a little stiff since the full moon was in a week, but as usual, Sirius made a big deal about it and made an even bigger deal out of it when Emmeline tried to baby him last night. Remus just hoped that Sirius didn't see her help him upstairs last night. It was humiliating enough that the entire Order saw it, but Remus was too polite to tell her to bug off like he was just itching to.

After a quick shower, he headed down to the kitchen where he was sure Molly was bustling about, forcing breakfast on whoever was awake by now. What he didn't expect was to find Molly listening to Kim chatter a mile a minute. He frowned. The only way she would be up willingly at nine in the morning would be if she didn't go to sleep at all the night before. "We need to-we need to find some medicine so he isn't so sick all the time, Mrs. Weasley! What if he gets arthritis or in the winter, he could catch a cold and be doubly sick or-or…" She spoke so fast that Remus could hardly keep up. He sighed. He should've known better than to let Sirius go after her last night, but Emmeline wouldn't leave him alone, and he wanted to go to sleep to get rid of her.

Remus cleared his throat to announce his entrance. Kim yelped. "Remus! You have to go back to bed!"

"What I think I have to do it put a muzzle on Sirius! I'm not sick or gravely injured! I'm only a little stiff!" Remus hoped her eyes were watery from lack of sleep.

Unfortunately, he was wrong. "Are you going to die, Remus?"

Remus narrowed his eyes. Yep, he was definitely going to find a human sized muzzle for Sirius. "No, I'm not going to die. I'll probably live into my sixties." _Hopefully…_

He winced when he saw her eyes widen, and Mrs. Weasley shook her head in disapproval. That was clearly the wrong answer. "But-but I want you to live forever! Like Dumbledore! You have to live to at least a hundred and twenty so I'll be so old that I won't be far behind you!" Remus was beginning to wonder if he should have listened to his goddaughter and went straight back to bed. That would have been easier than to see her heartbroken face.

"Leave him be, Sweetheart," Mrs. Weasley muttered while mixing pancake batter. "He can't control it."

Kim bit her lip. "But—"

"But I am perfectly fine and won't be going anywhere anytime soon," Remus said calmly.

Kim narrowed her eyes at him. "Promise?" Remus froze. How could he promise something like that?

Hoping he didn't regret it, Remus said, "Promise." Mrs. Weasley smiled as Kim nearly knocked him down with a hug.

* * *

Dora felt her heart racing a mile a minute as she brought Calvin to meet her mother for the first time. She often went to visit her mother daily, showing her memories of everything from Christmas when she was seven to what she had for breakfast that morning. But with every memory, Dora's hope that her mother would somehow regain her soul slowly diminished. Ever since that one time she thought Andromeda was showing signs of recovery, nothing happened. But still, it wasn't every day you introduce your boyfriend, the only guy you ever slept with, to your mother. Calvin squeezed her hand. "Don't worry. I met her yesterday."

Dora stopped in her tracks. "WHAT?" She felt herself changing her hair in a rainbow of shocked, confused, and enraged colors. She usually used florescent colors for shock, faded looking colors for confused, and various shades of red for anger.

Calvin ignored her colorful display of emotions. "Yup. With your dad."

Dora yanked at her rapidly changing hair. He met her dad without her too?! "How could you?! Meeting my parents for the first time was supposed to be a special moment in our relationship that I wanted to be a part of!"

"Oh." Calvin shrugged and continued to walk towards her mother's hospital room, only stopping when Dora yanked his arm roughly. "What? I didn't lie to you! I would've told you yesterday, but the Dursleys moved into my house. I've had to buy groceries three times already!"

"Don't use those people as an excuse," Dora fumed. "If my dad wasn't waiting for us, we would be heading straight home so I could scream at you properly."

"Cool!" Calvin grinned smugly at her at the prospect of getting away with meeting her parents behind her back…until she stomped on his foot. "Hey! Domestic abuse isn't cool, Dory." Dora's eye twitched at the nickname. "Alright, fine. We'll go in there and then you can yell at me all you want in front of the Muggles when we get home." Making a noise that sounded like some sort of feral creature, Dora yanked at Calvin's arm once more and dragged him into her mother's room.

Dora stopped in her tracks at when she saw her parents. The healers had set her mum in a chair and somehow managed to put her in Andromeda's favorite violet dress. Her father wore dress robes and chuckled at her sweats and her Weird Sisters t-shirt. Dora froze up. Before they left, Calvin was wearing his best shirt and pants, but when he saw what she was wearing, he changed into a gray hoodie with dark, baggy blue jeans. "What's going on?"

Grinning, Calvin walked in front of her and got down on one knee. "Nymphadora Athena Tonks, will you marry me?"

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I know tattoos of that detail take much longer and need to be protected and what not, but I'm going to chalk up the speedy results to magic. The next chapter will be the last one before everyone heads off to Hogwarts and things really start getting crazy. :) Please review!**


	11. A Beast, a Lion, Prefects and Werewolves

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: I know I made Tonks younger than she really is but…it's too late to fix it, so oh well. :/**

Chapter 11

Dora couldn't put her thoughts into words as she gaped at Calvin and the beautiful diamond ring he held in front of her. It was like the world froze. She saw nervousness in Calvin's eyes that she hardly ever saw, which looked wrong on so many levels. Calvin was supposed to be arrogant and beyond confident, not quaking in his boots. Feeling like her heart wasn't beating, Dora let her eyes slide over to her mum.

She knew her mum wouldn't, couldn't, say anything, so, like she did most of the time she needed her mother, Dora pretended that her mother could give her advice. Dora thought she would say something about doing what she felt was best. Then Dora would complain that that was a crappy answer, so Andromeda would pause, bite her thumbnail and think for a minute. Andy would smile after a few moments and say, _Could you live without him?_, which would make Dora yell that she was only nineteen. Andromeda would roll her eyes and say, _So?_

Calvin watched Dora argue with herself and wondered how long this was going to go on. He felt his heart pounding in his ears and couldn't seem to swallow the lump in his throat as the minutes ticked on by. He could hear Mr. Tonks clear his throat several times to try to bring Dora back to their world, but it didn't seem to work. Finally, Dora's face broke into a smile. "I would love to." Calvin let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding. "In five years." Giggling, Dora took the ring Calvin was holding and slipped it on her finger while her boyfriend, no _fiancé_, gaped at her. She held up the ring in the light. "I love it."

Once Calvin was able to properly close his mouth, he roared with laughter. Mr. Tonks chuckled awkwardly behind them as he picked Dora up and swung her around, only laughing harder when she shrieked. When he placed Dora down, she looked over to her mother and could've sworn she saw a smirk.

* * *

Sirius raised his eyebrows when he finally found Kim to force her down for lunch. "How come every time you're alone in this house, I find you drawing on something with a black marker?"

Kim had her face so close to the Black family tapestry that her nose was almost touching it and had the tip of her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth in concentration. "The material is too thick!" she squeaked once she realized Sirius was talking to her. "It's hard to write!"

"Okay…" Sirius said slowly. "Well, Molly made bacon sandwiches for lunch and won't let anyone eat until you get your butt down there, so I'd hurry up before you are murdered by hungry Weasleys."

"Just a couple more minutes!" Kim pouted at how the letters where running together when Sirius made his way over to the tapestry to see what she was doing. Written in thick, barely legible letters was Remus John Lupin connected to a burned Sirius Orion Black, which was connected to Kimberly Lily Pendragon and Harry James Potter signaling that they were his adopted children. Kim was trying to write Potter over Pendragon and was crossing out the latter.

"You know I hate this old thing," Sirius whispered softly. "If I could take it off and burn it, I would."

"Well, you can't, so I'm making it better!" Kim streaked the marker several times over Pendragon. "I never got around to changing it back."

Sirius opened his mouth to say they could go to the Ministry tomorrow, when he heard a horrible growling sound, and a sewer squat burst through the wall from the bathroom that was behind it. Since it was dripping smelly greenish brown fluid, Sirius was able to deduce that it came from the broken toilet. It was the size of a small, fat dog but looked like a rat with the tail of a squirrel. The sewer squat hissed at them, spraying golden yellow liquid that burned the wood floor.

Kim's jaw dropped. "Why isn't it ever a puppy?"

"Don't-don't move." Sirius took a cautious step towards that spitting beast. "I'm going to stun it…Maybe send it to Dolores Umbridge." He took another step as the sewer squat focused on him, wondering if Sirius was going to make a meal out of him.

Taking Sirius's threat to send the creature to Umbridge seriously, Kim screeched, "ANIMAL CRUELTY!", causing Sirius to whip his head in her direction to shush her. Unfortunately, sewer squats are more afraid of sudden movements than high pitched noises made by screaming girls. Gurgling, the sewer squat lunged at Sirius, digging its claws into his stomach.

Sirius howled with pain and thirty seconds later, Kim could hear the clunk of what sounded like a small army thundering up the stairs. However, acting on instinct, she tried to pull the monster off of her godfather and sadly, did so by pulling on its tail. It turns out that sewer squats had glands like a skunk, and Kim was sprayed in the face with something that smelled like a swamp and felt like lemons. "MY EYES!" Kim fell immediately to the ground and started sobbing about how she would never see again.

"_STUPEFY!_" Sirius looked over to see Remus looking at him tiredly and everyone else crowding into the room. "Why is it that every time you two are together in this house without in another adult present, Kim is either hurt or traumatized?"

"I'm blind Remus!" Kim wailed.

Remus sighed. "You'll be fine after a hot shower and a bezoar."

"I can't move! I'm poisoned, paralyzed, blind, and I smell like a moldy old swamp monster who ate moss for breakfast!"

"Well, if you had stunned it like a normal person, none of this would have happened," Sirius grumbled, gritting his teeth at the fact that Malfoy was glaring at him.

"I was trying to save you from having you're intestines ripped out and your pancreas devoured by that creature!" she sobbed.

"Get the medicine and take a shower before you are blind forever," Draco snapped, making Harry smile at his poorly concealed panic.

* * *

The excitement died down about an hour later after Sirius was given salve for his wounds while Kim took a shower. Kim's eyes were still puffy so she whined throughout lunch that she would be stuck like that forever and looked subhuman. "You kind of look like you have another pair of eyes growing under your eyelids," Harry teased.

"Har, har, har. I get it. 'Cause you're the Four Eyes," Kim responded grumpily. "Next time, I'm just going to let Sirius have his organs eaten."

"Or stun the thing like a normal person," Sirius mumbled into his sandwich. Remus rolled his eyes. The two of them had almost given everyone heart attacks when they heard the screams from upstairs.

Kim opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment, Dora kicked open the dining room door, falling flat on her face in the process. Scrambling up before Calvin could help her, Dora shouted for all to hear, "I'm getting married!"

"In five years," Calvin added glumly.

"You two and Hermione have to be bridesmaids of course," Dora prattled on. "I want everyone here involved in the wedding!" She squealed while Calvin narrowed his eyes at her. If she was this excited, then why did she want to wait five years from now? "And Mrs. Weasley?"

"Yes, Sweetheart?" Molly knew what Dora must want to ask and knew it must be very hard for her to even think about it. She smiled kindly at the girl.

Dora looked at the dusty old floor that Molly knew she would have to set to scrubbing tomorrow. "I was just wondering…I-I mean, if my mum isn't better…if you would stand in for her…" She gulped. "As mother of the bride." She suddenly turned bright red. "I-I—just to help with the little stuff, you know. Like helping me pick the dress and figure out where everyone's going to sit. All that silly stuff."

"Of course I would! But I'm sure Andy will still be able to sit in the front row," Molly told her gently. "I'm sure she would love to see it." Molly didn't want to add, _even though she won't be able to remember it_, because for all they knew maybe Andromeda could see and remember. No one who had the kiss ever spoke, so how did they know the person didn't have a soul? It wasn't like Dementors were well known for telling the truth.

Meanwhile, Calvin tried to hide his shock. So that was why Dora wanted to wait. She was still clinging to the hope that Andromeda would get better. Calvin wanted say that she couldn't wait for her mom forever but chose to remain silent. They were nineteen, for Christ sake. Twenty four wasn't an old age to get married.

While all the adults were buzzing over the engagement, Kim took the opportunity to tease her boyfriend. She sighed sadly. "Always a bridesmaid and never a bride." Harry and Ginny looked at each other and started giggling while Draco spat out his pumpkin juice. Kim found it hard to pretend to be heartbroken after seeing his dumbstruck expression.

Deciding to get a little revenge and pretending that she didn't almost make him choke, Draco whispered back, "We'll be married before you know it."

Kim's eyes popped out of her head, a funny sight, considering how swollen her eyes were. The Weasel started laughing so hard that milk came out of his nose, making Draco find him more disgusting than ever before. Weaslette thumped him on the back as the adult stared at him curiously. Not sure if he wanted to know, Sirius asked, "Care to explain?"

"Draco was just saying…moofomoph!" Said boyfriend stuffed his napkin into her mouth so Sirius wouldn't be chopping him up into little pieces to be served for dinner tonight. Kim made a repulsed face at the papery substance in her mouth as she removed it and scowled like a child who was put in time out.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Draco said what?" Remus covered his mouth with his own napkin to wipe away his smile.

"Nothing-nothing, sir," Draco squeaked, which made Sirius beam, and Remus roll his eyes once again. Draco called him sir! That meant that the boy feared him and all was right with the world.

* * *

Hermione arrived at Grimmauld Place the day of the full moon, and although Sirius protested until he thought his ears were going to bleed, Remus made sure to be down to breakfast to greet her. She smiled excitedly. "Aren't you guys excited?! We get our school lists tomorrow! I can't wait to get started on our new text books!" Kim slid under the table. Maybe if Hermione didn't see her, then she wouldn't figure out that she had yet to do her homework. It had worked with Remus so far…

"Is Mad-Eye teaching Defense this year?" Harry asked, hearing a frightened "Eep!" from under the table.

Remus shook his head. "No. He's training the aurors again." _And_ _wants to be as close to the Prophecy as possible._ "Professor Dumbledore's has actually been pretty tight lipped about who will be teaching this year."

"Is that a good or bad thing?" Ron asked cautiously. Hopefully it wasn't someone like Fudge, or even worse, Snape. Remus shrugged sleepily, ignoring Sirius's eyes that were pleading with him to head back up stairs.

"Hopefully it's good." Hermione slid into her seat. "This is one of our most important years! OWLs are just around the corner! Did you all get the study charts I sent you?" Suddenly, no one would look her in the eye, not even Ginny.

Before anyone could halfheartedly lie, someone rang the doorbell, causing Walburga to start screeching about her house being used as a breeding ground for blood traitor heathens. Throwing her arms in the air like an agitated mother hen, Mrs. Weasley bustled off the answer the door, making Sirius's eye twitch when she announced who it was. "Emmeline! What a pleasant surprise!" Kim popped her head up in her usual prairie dog like fashion but slid back down at the warning look Remus gave her.

Emmeline came into the dining room just a few seconds later with a large bowl in her oven mitt covered hands. "Remus! I thought you might be feeling a bit under the weather!" Remus took a deep breath, trying to mental prepare himself. Why was Emmeline all of the sudden trying to win him back? She had the perfect chance while Sirius was in prison, so why was she after him all of the sudden?

"I'm fine, Em. I was just going to head upstairs to rest." Remus stood up, ignoring his creaking bones.

"But I made you some soup!" Emmeline exclaimed, crestfallen.

"If anyone is gonna make Remus soup, it's gonna be me!" Kim shouted from under the table, making Emmeline jump and almost slosh soup all over herself. _If only…_Sirius thought evilly.

Emmeline smiled brightly, even though Kim couldn't see it from under the table. "Don't you think that you're a little young to be cooking." Remus and Draco were already covering their ears, and Harry and Sirius followed suit when she added, "You don't want to get him sick."

"WHAT?" Kim tried to jump up and bumped her head on the table, making the dishes from lunch clang loudly. Hissing furiously, she crawled out like a dark creature crawling out of its cave from under the table and stood to face her enemy. "Now listen here, Homewrecker—"

"Kim!" Remus yelled, half embarrassed and half confused over why Kim hated Emmeline so much.

She went on as if she didn't hear him, and Harry looked over to see that even Sirius looked a bit mortified. "I can make Remus soup, and you can't, so go home," she said in a deadly calm voice.

Seeing Emmeline's face twitch like Uncle Vernon's, Harry decided that it was time to intervene, and there was no other way to do so than by force. Sighing, he scooped up his sister before she could be continue to be rude and ignored her screams of shock and rage over the fact that he was able to pick her up. As he went up the creaky stairs, Harry grunted, "Stop kicking or I'll drop you!" She stopped kicking instantly but still screamed the entire way to the boys' room. "What the hell? She was just bringing him soup!"

"She's trying to steal him from us!" Kim shouted.

Harry tried not to smile but let out a small laugh anyway. "And you think she'll succeed?"

"No." Kim sounded like a stubborn child in time out, which she sort of was actually. Her bottom lip even stuck out a little bit. "But what if she tries to seduce him, and Sirius sees and thinks they're having an affair, he'll run away and never comes back!"

Harry threw his hands up in the air. "Where do you come up with this stuff? Leave her alone or Remus is going to apologize on your behalf." Kim pursed her lips at the thought. "He might even hug her if she cries," Harry lied smoothly, knowing that it would drive her nuts.

Kim yanked at her hair and fell face first into Draco's bed by the window. He shared the room with Harry and Ron now that Fred and George got their own room. Sirius told Harry to make sure that he didn't sneak off into Kim's room, which Harry thought was ridiculous since Kim's room was also Ginny's and now Hermione's room. "I can't let that happen because Sirius will see the hug and think it's licentious and run away and we'll never see him again," was her muffled reply from Draco's pillow.

"Then ignore Emmeline and whenever she does something you don't like, turn your nose up and leave." Harry smirked. "Like your boyfriend does whenever Fred and George throw dung bombs at him."

"Fine!" And Kim kept her promise all the way until Christmas.

* * *

Harry brought Remus some tomato soup a few hours later while the man was waking up from a nap before the full moon. He laughed softly. "Not Emmeline's cream of mushroom?"

Harry shook his head. "From some odd reason, Sirius thought Kreacher should have it. And Kim agreed. She said Hermione was right and that Kreacher should be taken care of better in his old age." Remus laughed so hard that he broke into a coughing fit, leaving Harry feeling helpless in the background. Once he stopped coughing, Harry gently set the tray on Remus's lap. "Remus?"

"Hmmm?"

"Are you upset with me…about the cottage?" Remus's eyebrows shot up, making Harry blush. "I mean, if it wasn't for me they wouldn't've burned it down, and if it wasn't for me you wouldn't have had to go to the Shrieking Shack last full moon, and you've had that cottage all your life and now…"

"And now we are safe. The cottage is a thing that can be replaced, and you aren't." Remus smiled while Harry fidgeted. "I'll tell you what. After the war is over, you can help me rebuild it. How about that?" Harry nodded numbly, mumbling something Remus couldn't understand, and left as quickly as possible. Remus yawned and let him go. While he wished Harry wasn't so shy, he didn't think he could handle having the wind knocked out of him with a hug like his goddaughter would have given him tonight.

* * *

Sirius yawned as the sun started to go down to calm his nerves. They warded up the basement to the point that they would know if a gnat when through the doorway leading up to the dinning room. Remus was still anxious about it though. There were always so many what ifs running through Remus's mind during the full moon, so Sirius tried to cheering him up by saying, "Didn't Kim look a little lumpy in her bed tonight," he said with a chuckle but was distracted for a moment when he thought he saw something flicker out of the corner of his eye. There better not be any creatures in here tonight.

Remus frowned. "No. And I'm sure she'll rip your throat out if you mention it tomorrow."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'd like to see her try." Again, there was that flicker.

And hour later, Remus's screams bounced around the silencing charms as he transformed into Moony. Sirius changed into Padfoot and did his best not to howl sadly. Remus didn't need to hear that.

Padfoot tensed up however, when he heard a pitiful moan that sounded not quiet human. Narrowing his eyes, Padfoot walked cautiously over to the corner of the basement, where a pile of wooden splintered boxes was clustered. He could've sworn he saw a shadow but was distracted when he heard Moony howl at the full moon that could be seen out the tiny, rectangular window on the top of the cement gray wall of the basement. He scampered over to Moony but stopped to grin as best as Padfoot could at the look on Moony's face.

His eyes looked like large snitches popping out of his head while his mouth was wide open, making his large wolf tongue flop out. Padfoot barked with laughter until Moony growled. It wasn't an _I feel threatened_ growl. It was a _You are in so much trouble _growl. Padfoot turned his head around slowly and yelped in more shock than horror at the lion staring him down. _So I guess she wasn't lumpy after all, _Sirius thought to himself,_ It was a pile of pillows in her bed._ He really should have known better. He had practically invented that trick.

Kim trotted past Padfoot and did her best to make puppy eyes at Moony, which was hard considering she was the opposite of a puppy right now. She had to make sure Remus was okay! Sirius had her really worried last week, and Remus was screaming pretty loud tonight. She stuck her head on Remus's wolf shoulder and tried her best to pout. Moony looked ready to swat her away and snapped at her without much enthusiasm, but having no other choice, he caved, curled up in a ball, and tried to fall asleep.

Harry stumbled down the stairs for breakfast the next morning to find Ron staring at a letter in such stunned awe that Harry wondered if he won a year supply of Honeydukes candy. He waved his hand in front of Ron's face. "Alright there, mate? Don't worry. I'm sure Mrs. Weasley will be down here soon enough to make you breakfast." Ron pointed to his letter with a shaking hand. "What? The letter wasn't cursed, was it?" Harry asked, half joking. Ron shook his head. "Then what is it? Go on! Spill it!"

Mrs. Weasley was just heading downstairs when Ron stuttered, "I-I've been made p-p-prefect." The Weasley matriarch stopped in her path, eyes going wide with poorly concealed shock.

Before Mrs. Weasley could start screaming for joy and covering Ron with kisses, Harry said, "Congrats, Ron. Good luck." Remembering that this was Fred and George's last year and that they would probably want to go out with a bang, Harry thought to himself that Ron was going to need it. That was why Harry dreaded being picked as a prefect. He hated it when his friends were mad at him so he wouldn't want to get them in trouble. Smiling, Harry took a step back as Mrs. Weasley shrieked and showered Ron's beat red face with kisses. Ron looked ready to explode from all the attention, and Harry wasn't sure if Ron liked it or not.

"Oh my goodness! A prefect! My little Ronnie is a prefect! I can't believe it! I've never been so proud!" she gushed, and she would've continued if she hadn't been silenced by a squeal that sounded suspiciously like an overjoyed Hermione Granger.

Hermione was down the stairs in a flash, followed by an exhausted looking Ginny and Kim. "I'm a prefect! I've got to tell my parents! Can I borrow Hedwig?"

"Er, sure." Harry frowned at Kim. "Why is your hair that color?"

Kim fingered her golden brown hair. "Because Remus needs us! You need to finish up your animagus form so you can help him too!"

"You're going to be in so much trouble," Harry said quietly while Mrs. Weasley suffocated Ron, asking him what he wanted and promising to make his favorite for dinner tonight.

Kim sighed and her hair turned a shade closer to red. She sat down slowly, since she was sore all over. "But he said that he liked it when he had a pack when he was at school so we need to be part of it so he feels better."

Doubting that Remus would use the word 'pack', Harry whispered, "You can't do something like that until he feels comfortable with it."

"Couldn't of said it better myself." Kim jumped and hid behind Harry as Sirius's shadow loomed over them but to her relief, his tired face held a ghost of a smile. "Remus says that on every Hogsmeade trip until Christmas you are going to be cleaning Zonko's shop. I'd consider myself lucky, if I were you."

Eying him warily and waiting for Sirius to yell about giving Remus a heart attack, Kim slowly sat in her seat as Draco came down to the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time. Unfortunately, before he could announce to the world that he was a prefect, the floo came to life and Agatha gracefully came through.

Sirius never would have expected her to come over the morning after the full moon. Even when they were eleven, Remus was bedridden a few days after and still looked peaky a week later. But if anything Agatha seemed rather animated, like a little kid who went the night without a wink of sleep. "Hey babies!" She crinkled her nose happily at the look of shock everyone gave her. "I'm here to get my heir his books for the school year!"

Mrs. Weasley was the first to break the silence. "That's quiet alright, darling. You are probably exhausted. And I can afford to buy Ron his books!"

Agatha waved her off. "Nonsense! Without Ron, we would be honeymooning in a cardboard box instead of India! The least I can do is make sure he's looking fresh for school!" She giggled, and Kim wondered how much coffee she had this morning.

Darwin was next to bounce through the floo. "Excellent!" he exclaimed once he looked around the room. "Hermione! I need a sample of your blood!"

Sirius was getting fed up with not knowing what Darwin was up to. "Alright! That's enough! You!" He pointed at Darwin. "What on earth are you doing?"

"It's a secret, my boy!"

Hermione fingered her prefect badge, deciding now was the time to act like an adult. "Well, if you are going to take my blood, I want to know what you're going to do with it," she said calmly, trying to sound as mature as possible while excited about becoming a prefect.

Darwin pouted. "Very well. But you must promise not to tell." Hermione nodded, and they headed up stairs, frustrating Sirius to no end.

"Right! So are we heading off!?" Agatha motioned like she was about to run to the front door.

"And you!" Sirius yelled. "How come you aren't bedridden like Moony? The full moon must've been awful for you too!"

Agatha crossed her arms. "Was not! I'll have you know that I quite enjoyed catching a frisbee like a dog!" She looked around that table. "Have you got any coffee?"

Sirius felt his patience decreasing by the second. "No. I mean why aren't you in pain from having every bone in your body broken and snapped back together, twice, in less than twelve hours," he clarified through clenched teeth.

Feeling like Sirius was killing her coffee buzz, Agatha narrowed her eyes at him a replied, "Because I took Wolf's Bane. Duh."

Sirius took a deep breath. "So did Remus…" He took a minute to close his eyes and count to ten. "But he is still the color of sour milk right now."

Agatha put her hands on her hips. "Well it's not my fault he isn't an animagus." Harry frowned and looked at Kim, who shrugged. What did being an animagus have to do with being a werewolf?

"I don't see how that's relevant," Sirius snapped.

Agatha gave Kim a looked that said, _How do you put up with this guy?_ Kim shrugged like it was a mystery to her too. Sirius's fingers twitched like he was itching to throttle them both. "_Because_ like being a werewolf, becoming an animagus is just expanding yourself to another form. The difference is that animagi can control it. Their transformation is more…smooth because they aren't feral and can use their mind to do it. Wolf's Bane lets you have control to do it. So if I have my mind and know how to change into an animagus—"

"You can change into a werewolf as easily as you change into an animagus," Harry gasped.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! That "flicker" was Kim flicking her tail in agitation when she heard Sirius making fun of her. This isn't a cure for Remus. It's like a half cure I guess. He's still going to be sick before the full moon, but I think this is a realistic treatment. Please review!**


	12. Love

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Last chapter was the first time I've haven't gotten a review for a chapter! :0 But that only means I have to do better! As of Wednesday, I've been writing for over a year now, but I still have room for improvement. I've got quite a few twists lined up for this book so I hope you guys stick with me! **

Chapter 12

Remus was only half asleep when he heard Sirius thundering up the stairs, and was debating whether to sit up or not when Sirius burst into the room and shouted, "What the hell, Moony? You practically memorized those books in school!"

"I practically memorized a lot of books, Padfoot," he said hoarsely. "So shut up and let me sleep."

"But-but I have the most amazing news!" Remus heard Sirius whine.

"And unless it's a matter of life and death, it can wait." Remus would have felt guilty at the sullen expression on Sirius's face when he saw it through half closed eyes, but by the time the man sulked away, Remus was already sound asleep.

* * *

He did regret it the next day though when Sirius explained it to him. He couldn't believe that it was that simple. Sure, becoming an animagus was no simple task, but if it meant not feeling like his bones were made of jagged shards of broken glass, Remus was willing to become an animagus a hundred times. "That's it?" he asked with a blank expression on his face.

Sirius beamed as if it was Christmas, and he had finally gotten that puppy. "That's it! We start training next week, and I'm hoping we'll have this settled by next year!"

Remus smiled. "We can't rush it."

Sirius jumped on his bed like he used to during the school days. However, unlike their school days…most of their school days, he put his arm around Remus's waist, making sure not to do it too harshly. "We're Marauders, Moony! We can do anything!"

* * *

Draco snuck into Kim's room after the party everyone threw for Ron and Hermione. His girlfriend was face down on the bed, but somehow knew it was him. "Oh Draco! I have the worst tummy ache ever!"

"That's what you get for drinking ketchup straight from the bottle. If Weasley dared you to jump of a bridge, would you do it?" Draco dared to sit on the edge of her bed, knowing that Black could burst in at any moment if he realized the both of them were missing from the library where Hermione set up a game called Twister.

"If he called me a sissy like he did earlier, then maybe," she mumbled into her pillow.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Well sit up! Because I want you to see the newest Slytherin prefect."

Kim rolled over sluggishly, but her eyes were wide with shock. "What do you mean the newest Slytherin prefect?! You should be downstairs showin' off!"

"Well…It was something that I would have rather celebrated with my parents," Draco admitted. He couldn't even write to them with the Dark Lord breathing down their necks. They wouldn't know of his latest accomplishment until the next time he saw them, which could be the next day or the next year.

"But-but Mrs. Weasley could've put your name on the cake and made you your favorite food!" Kim exclaimed. "But I guess it's not the same," she added before he could think she didn't understand what he was going through.

"It's not," Draco said firmly. "It's rather lonely here. None of these people I would consider my friends. I would've gone insane if you weren't here."

Kim finally sat up and crawled over to him. "I am very proud of you, Draco Lucius Malfoy." Draco smiled and grabbed her hands. "Now you can use your power to get me out of detentions!"

Draco pretended to look offend. "Excuse me? You can't get in anymore trouble because it will damage my unblemished reputation. How will I ever make Head Boy if my girlfriend is a criminal?"

"You can't be Head Boy! Then the Head Girl will think she can make some moves on you!" Kim giggled. "What if the Head Girl was Millicent, and she tries to kiss you while you are asleep!"

"That's disgusting," Draco muttered, remembering when his father thought he was saying that he was in love with Millicent.

Smiling sadly, Kim slid into his lap and whispered, "Don't be sad, Draco. You'll see your parents again." She wrapped her legs around his waist, making Draco glance at the door that he stupidly left unlocked. "Until then you got me!"

"If you aren't responsible for my death first," he said as she leaned in to kiss him.

* * *

"But why do we have to start with theory?" Sirius whined a week later when Calvin agreed to give Remus lessons. "Moony already knows all this stuff!" Remus gave him a small smile but didn't say anything. He may have known all this stuff twenty years ago and while he did know most of the stuff Calvin was teaching, it was good to have it brought back to his thoughts.

Calvin glared at him. He had a huge paper due tomorrow on lifesaving potions that he didn't even start yet, and he was here listening to Sirius complain that he didn't teach fast enough. "_Because_ if its taught too fast he might as well not be learning at all. If you're bored, you can go into the next room and play Duck, Duck, Goose with the squirts, including Kim whose transformation is nearly as bad as a werewolves, and I bet she is still sore from her stunt the other week because _she _never listened to me and—"

"Fine! Fine! Fine!" Sirius waved him off. "But could you hurry up! Remus taught us this stuff so he knows it!"

"He _knew _it twenty years ago." Calvin folded his arms. "But what if there's something he doesn't remember?"

"He remembers everything because he's Remus!" Sirius said impatiently. Calvin looked at Remus for help.

Holding in his laughter, Remus asked, "Sirius? I think Arthur needs help with the Boggart downstairs." Grumbling about how boring theory was, Sirius stomped downstairs to find Arthur opening all the cabinets, searching for the Boggart.

"You know," Arthur said when he realized Sirius was in the room. "I never really thought about what I fear most." He opened a dusty cabinet downstairs. "I haven't fought a boggart since Molly and I were still dating. Funny story actually. My boggart was her rejecting my proposal. She saw it, and it ruined the surprise!" Arthur chuckled at the memory. "But she said yes."

Not wanting to see his family's dead bodies, Sirius reluctantly joined the search, looking under the couches and getting covered in cobwebs everywhere he looked. He hit his head when searching under the coffee table at the sound of Percy's voice. "I _had_ to leave," Percy said haughtily. "And maybe if you understood how to work in the Ministry, you would be able to do more than just put food on the table."

Sirius got up to see the closet door in the living room wide open, and Arthur drop his wand with a shaking hand. Figuring out it was the Boggart, Sirius put his hand on Arthur's shoulder, surprised that the man didn't flinch. He was completely mesmerized by the fake Percy. And soon the fake Percy became the fake Percy and Ron. "I couldn't even go to my first year of school with my own wand," Ron snapped. "And God forbid I have any clothes that aren't hand-me-downs or sown by Mum!"

"Arthur—" But soon Fred and George joined the group of people the Boggart was creating.

"Mum wants us to join the Ministry like you." Fred rolled his eyes.

"Don't know why," George added. "We could actually support ourselves with our joke shop. Unlike you."

Ginny was the last to appear before someone intervened. "At least I get clothes that aren't worn down to shreds since I'm the only girl." Then her nose wrinkled in disgust. "But all my baby toys were falling apart and stained from Merlin knows what from the six before me. Remember when I choked on the button eye from that teddy? I could have died because you couldn't afford to get me a proper stuffed bear!"

"_Riddikulus!_" Molly stood over the stair railing and had her wand pointed at the Boggart. It burst into rainbow confetti as she ran down the stairs. "Nothing to worry about, Arthur," she said, trying not to acknowledge how pale her husband was. She quickly conjured a box to put the confetti in.

"I-I…" Arthur swallowed. So that was what he feared? His children hating him because they weren't as well off as the average family? When Bill was born, he had only wanted the best for his children, but it soon became clear that he couldn't afford the best. He never dared to ask if his children resented him because of it, and he always tried to push the possibility out of him mind. But they couldn't be happy with having less than other children their age, could they? "I need to go to the office for a while." He left without giving his wife a second glance. He couldn't face her, not now.

* * *

Ron already felt his face turn bright red as he went to the basement where his dad was tinkering with a VCR later that night. He never really had heart to heart conversations with his dad, but his mum was bugging him about it, and she did make sure he got a new broom for becoming a prefect. "Hey, Dad! What are you doing with…that, um, thing?"

Arthur snapped his head up so fast that he almost knocked his glasses off his face. "It plays Muggle movies when you place a movie box inside, son. The only problem is you need a television to watch them…I'm trying to figure out how to watch them without the television or without using a…what's the word? Outlet! Yes! An outlet. We don't have many of those, only for the lights."

"Oh, well, that's cool, I guess. I've never seen a movie before." Ron chewed on his bottom lip. _Just say it! Say it you idiot!_ he thought to himself. "Mum, er, told me about what happened." He saw his dad tense up so he added quickly, "I just wanted you to know that I don't hate you! None of us do."

Arthur tried his best to smile but felt like his face was made of thick rubber. "I-I know son. I wish I could do more for you, but I never wanted you to think I sacrificed who I was for the sake of money."

Ron bit his lip. This was so awkward. Why couldn't Mum just tell him this? "When I was younger, I used to be jealous of the other kids who had things I didn't, and honestly, I still get jealous sometimes, but that doesn't mean I would change anything. If you pursued a career in the Ministry like the rest of the moneygrubbers out there you would be just like Per-Malfoy." He frowned in disgusted, trying to hide his hope that Arthur didn't catch that he almost said Percy instead of Malfoy.

"But you agreed to be the heir for another family. A family with a lot more money than ours, I might add." Arthur wanted to smack himself on the forehead the minute he said that. Why couldn't accept what his son was telling him? It was what he wanted to hear, what he knew deep down all along. Why did he have to question it? Was it that hard to accept that his family loved him unconditionally and would choose him over material things?

"That's because I didn't want anyone to steal from them! I had no idea that you would take it that way! I just thought I was helping them out. I wasn't going to become all snooty once I turned sixteen and had access to the money! You're my dad. I wouldn't trade you for anything!" Ron felt his ears burn and looked over to see his father's equally red.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of silence, Arthur chuckled. "I wouldn't trade you for anything either, Ron. Not even outlets." Laughing nervously, Ron knelt down to join his dad in finding out the mechanics of the mysterious device, the VCR.

* * *

The night before they returned to Hogwarts, Ginny decided to slip on the locket for the first time. Over the past week, she thought about putting it on a million times but was never able to work up the courage for fear that her parents would take it away. She had never had such nice jewelry! Whenever Ginny saw something she liked in the store, she never felt comfortable asking her mum for it. She hated the look in her mother's eyes when she thought she couldn't provide for her children, so Ginny did her best to ask for as little as possible. But she didn't have to ask for the locket! Sirius said they could have anything that wasn't cursed or that emitted a bad smell.

Ginny grinned as she put the locket on, fingering the emerald snake. She would just hide it under her shirt until they got on the train. No one would know what she had until she was at school, and they couldn't take it away from her.

* * *

Ginny stomped down the stairs on September first in a rather foul mood. She didn't know why, but everyone seemed to piss her off today. Even Harry, who usually brightened her day by just being there, seemed to ignite an unfamiliar fury with her. He had the gall to smile at her! "Stay up all night doing homework with Kim?"

"No," she snapped harshly, making him back away with surprise. That was so typical of him, wanting to anger no one. He was such a people pleaser, and it was so irritating.

Ginny cringed when she heard Kim's voice, reminding her of nails on a chalkboard. "Pancakes! Pancakes! Pancakes! I smell pancakes!" she sang happily. Ginny gritted her teeth. Was this girl ever going to grow up?

"It's alive?! At eight thirty in the morning?" Sirius asked, feigning horror.

"It probably never went to sleep," Harry said cheerfully.

"I am not an it!" Kim yelled in offence.

"But you never went to sleep!" Ginny pulled her chair out roughly. "You could've at least turned the light off."

"You were snoring all night!" Kim frowned. Ginny was acting weird today. She had slept all night and yanked the lamp cord out of its socket this morning, complaining about wasting electricity. Hermione had woken up at three in the morning to study, and Ginny still hadn't woken up at that time, so why was she so grumpy?

"Was not!"

Molly sighed. It was out of character for her youngest child to act like this, but this morning was so hectic that she didn't have time to give it much thought. "Let's just try to get to the train station in one piece. Please?" Ginny scowled but complied and didn't say a word until the train was speeding away to Hogwarts.

* * *

The moment they arrived on Platform 9 3/4, Harry was blinded by the flash of a camera and felt his heart sink at the number of reporters crowding around him. "Harry? What are your plans? Why did you fake your death?"

"Are you disturbed, Harry Potter?"

"Do you think you have the same mental illness your sister was hospitalized for?" Kim turned tomato red, and Harry saw Draco grab her hand.

"Has living with so many mentally ill people unnerved you?"

"Do you think the fear of living with a werewolf has caused you to have a breakdown?" That one came from Rita Skeeter, and before Sirius could verbally assault her, Kim shook herself from Draco's grasp, grabbed Skeeter's arm and flung her into the side of the train. The rest of the reporters started taking pictures like mad. Skeeter groaned pitifully and slid to the ground.

Wide-eye, Remus barked, "Get on the train!"

"But—"

"Everyone get on the train before you all get arrested!" Sirius yelled loudly so he could be heard over all the reporters.

Remus and Sirius practically had to throw Kim on the train to Hogwarts once they got past all the reporters. She made a face that many of the mothers were making as they let their excited eleven years olds on the train. "Promise to write to me the moment you get home!"

"We promise." Remus elbowed Sirius before he had the chance to roll his eyes.

"And promise to finish the strawberry milk in the fridge so it doesn't spoil!"

"The bloody train's going to start with you only halfway in it," Sirius yelled with exasperation.

"Promise!"

"We promise. And Sirius is right. For once." This time Sirius elbowed Remus.

"And promise to—" She was cut off by the yowling sound of the train whistle and yelped when Harry pulled her in. "What'd you do that for?"

Harry grinned. "I'm sure I would be grounded if I let you fall off the train."

She pouted, ignoring the fact that she already wanted to go home. "Whatever."

Kim started following everyone into their compartment when she was pulled away by the arm yet again, this time by Draco. "Hey! You guys are going to pull my arm out of its socket!" Ginny threw her a dirty look. "What's the matter—? Hey!"

Smiling nervously, Draco closed the door once they were in the nearest compartment. He even shut the shade on the small window on the door and ignored the bemused look Kim was sending him. "Don't laugh at me!" he asked desperately.

"Draco, I would never! I am offended that you would even insinuate that I—" She stopped at the no nonsense look he gave her. "Alright! I solemnly swear I will not laugh at you."

"Okay," he said breathlessly. He ran his hands through his hair, and Kim had to literally bite her tongue to not say that was a nervous habit he picked up from Harry. "Okay…give me a minute!" Kim threw her hands up in the air and flopped on the compartment couch. If he needed a minute, then he shouldn't have been in such a rush to be alone with her.

So Kim waited and waited and waited, watching Draco fiddle with his hands and put them in and out of his pockets. His face was rather flustered and after about fifteen minutes he said, "It was a dumb idea. Never mind."

"What do you mean never mind!? I've been waiting forever! I gotta know! TELL ME!" Kim shook him slightly as Draco turned a color that reminded Kim of a watermelon. "Aw! It can't be that bad!"

"Well…there's this ring that my mum had. It's not her engagement ring, but it's really important…" Draco suddenly felt like his throat closed up.

Kim bounced in her seat and tried not to smile, knowing where this was going. "And she let you have it?"

_Sort of…_ "Yes. I think it's like a promise ring or something. She said I was to give it to the girl I wanted to marry." _When I was a little kid…_ Draco felt his heart thudding madly in his chest and something was telling him to back out of this, that giving Kim the ring was a horrible idea, but the sparkle in her eyes dashed away such thoughts that he chalked up to nerves. "But I figured you'd think it was stupid because it's not an engagement ring or anything and we're only fifteen and…" Draco broke off before he could embarrass himself further with his rambling.

Kim held out her hand expectantly and grinning from ear to ear. With shaking hands, Draco took the ring feeling a bit giddy at the smile on her face. "It's beautiful!" She looked at the shimmering gem lovingly. "I'll wear it forever!"

Surprisingly, the ring magically shrunk to fit on Kim's tiny finger, and she felt a strange jolt run through her body when she put it on, only making her happier. She thought to herself that the jolt was from pure excitement as she dragged Draco over to her to kiss him passionately until he had to go the prefect meeting and wasn't corrected until late June, when her world came crashing down.

* * *

Hermione was making everyone's head hurt by talking about possible essay questions for OWLs when she checked her watch and shot up out of her seat. "Ron! The meeting for the prefects starts in less than five minutes!" Ron puffed out his chest to make himself look less anxious and scurried off.

Ginny snorted once they were gone. "What a pair of dorks."

Harry shrugged. Ginny was in such a bad mood today, and he didn't want to make it worse by saying that Ron and Hermione were his best friends. He was sure she didn't mean it. Everyone was mean and in a bad mood once in a while, so he decided to say something that he hoped would cheer her up instead. "But now that they're prefects, we'll have more time alone together."

For the first time all day, Ginny genuinely smiled. "I like the sound of that, Mr. Potter." She slid closer to him (Ron had decided to sit between them during the beginning of the train ride) and wrapped her arms around his neck. "We can do whatever we want." Harry felt his heart beating against his ribcage. What was that supposed to mean?

"Er…" Ginny bit her lip to stop from giggling at his discomfort. "I suppose…"

"Haven't you ever thought about…doing other things than just kissing?" she asked, a bit shyly.

Harry gulped. Of course he thought about it. A lot actually. But thinking about it and doing it were two entirely different things. Harry felt his palms begin to sweat. He was a guy. He wasn't supposed to be afraid of taking things a step further with his girlfriend. This conversation was supposed to be the other way around. Feeling like a freak, Harry tried to smile, knowing he looked like a crazy person, and said quietly, "Maybe."

Ginny blinked at him. "I'm not asking you to jump into bed with me." Still, Ginny felt a little annoyed when he relaxed a little after hearing her say it. "I…" What was she asking? Her cheeks suddenly felt like they were on fire. "Oh Merlin! I can't believe I just…I meant, like, I don't know…more touching or something." She buried her face in her hands. "Please don't think I'm one of those scarlet women!"

Harry finally felt him starting to relax completely. "Your face is rather scarlet, but I don't think that's what you mean."

"I don't want you to think I-I that I'm some sort of wanton woman!" Ginny cried.

Harry felt his lips twitch despite his efforts not to smile. She sounded a bit like Mrs. Weasley. "Nah. But I do think you're a bit loony today." Ginny playfully whacked on the shoulder. "Hey! See what I mean? There's no need to resort to physical violence against your boyfriend!"

* * *

Kim was about to join Harry and Ginny since Draco left for his boring old prefects meeting when she peered in and saw them having a cutesy little slap fight. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Kim hurried away before they saw her.

Peeking into various compartments, Kim realized that she didn't have as many friends as she thought she did. She hardly knew any of these people, and Lavender Brown gave her a funny look when Kim looked in her compartment so that wasn't going to work out. Vince and Gregg wouldn't work out because they had nothing in common with her and were eating so much that Kim thought it was gross. Blaise was in there with them, but so was Daphne and Kim couldn't help but think that Daphne thought she was stupid, so that booth was out.

She was relieved when she finally found Theo with some blonde girl. Sure, it would be totally awkward since they hadn't had a real conversation since they broke up, but there was a first time for everything.

Theo felt like he was going to have a conniption when Kim burst into his and Luna's compartment. He was trying to work up the courage to have his first kiss with Luna, and his ex-girlfriend just ruined it! "Oh hello," Luna said dreamily. "Are you lost?"

"Nope. Just lookin' for some company!" Kim said happily, enjoying Theo's infuriated face.

"She said that because she thought you were a first year," Theo said with a smirk.

"Not true!" But Kim still sulked and turned to Luna. "Is it?"

Luna shook her head and looked thoughtful. "There's some sort of magic that's starting to clog up your brain, but I've never seen it before."

Thinking that she was becoming more magically powerful, Kim simply replied, "Cool," and sat down. _Uninvited_, Theo added to himself. How was he ever going to kiss Luna now? Meanwhile, Luna frowned. The magic looked a bit on the dark side, actually, but not dark at the same time. How odd.

Shaking the Wrackspurts out of her brain, Luna asked, "Theo told me that you were under the Imperious Curse last year, is it true? I don't read the _Prophet_, you see."

"Yeah I was! Such drama," she sighed. "But I'm surprised one of your friends didn't shove the article in your face." Theo closed his eyes. Besides him, Luna didn't really have any friends.

"I prefer _The Quibbler_. My dad's the editor." Luna reached into her bag and took out a copy. Kim read the headline. _Lucius Malfoy: Lover of all Things Cute and Cudley._ Grinning, Kim snatched the magazine out of Luna's hand and read about Lucius's love for kittens, babies, and, oddly enough, sea turtles.

"I NEED a subscription! Like, now!" Theo rolled his eyes. As annoyed as he was for missing out of his and Luna's first kiss, it was nice to find someone who didn't look at Luna like she was a freak.

* * *

Harry smiled when he saw Kim start nodding off as Umbridge began her seemingly never ending speech. His smile faltered, however, when he saw how annoyed Ginny looked. Before he could even think of anything that would stop her, Ginny sent Kim a swift kick to her shin. Her "EEP!" echoed throughout the Great Hall.

Umbridge stopped mid-sentence and blinked, trying to smile but looking rather demented. "Is there a problem?" Harry paled. Kim was still pissed off about the reporters today, and he knew for a fact that she hated Umbridge. She definitely wasn't going to say anything nice.

"I fell asleep. That tends to happen when I'm incredibly bored," she said coolly. Harry saw Draco bang his head on the Slytherin table, and he was very tempted to do the same at his own table. Ginny smirked. Well, at least she wasn't mad at Kim anymore.

Umbridge's face spasmed with the powerful hatred that she was doing her best to hide. "Perhaps you can learn to control yourself, Miss Potter. Act your age for once." There were several murmurs from the Hogwarts audience, and Harry saw Dumbledore take a sip from his goblet to conceal his smile.

"Perhaps you can learn to be more charismatic. It does wonders when you're trying to brainwash the masses." Kim silently prayed that Remus wouldn't hear about this. She was already toast for what she did to Skeeter.

"Shut up!" Harry hissed quietly. One year. One peaceful year. That's all he asked for. He sighed at how Umbridge's face was Uncle Vernon Purple. Maybe next year.

"We will discuss this in detention this Saturday!" Umbridge replied cheerfully. Kim smiled and shrugged, giving Umbridge permission to continue her introductory speech.

* * *

After the feast, Ginny found all of her dorm mates sleeping like hogs who were just given their slop by the time she got out of the shower. She yawned as she grabbed her hair brush, hoping to join them soon. Tomorrow was going to be a long day with Hermione squawking that they had the weekend to study for their first classes, and she prayed that she didn't have Defense on Monday. The thought of having to look at that toad on her first day made an unfamiliar anger boil up inside of her, starting from her chest and rising all the way up to her throat.

Ginny almost dropped her brush when she looked in the mirror. Behind her own reflection was the man that haunted her dreams for the past three years: Tom Riddle. But, oddly enough, she didn't feel the fear that gripped her in her nightmares, or else she would've been screaming until she woke the whole castle. Instead, Ginny felt like she had her best friend back, and a foreign part of her soul refused to acknowledge all of the horrible things he did to her, that he almost drained the life out of her to improve his own. He smiled at her in the mirror, as if to say, _It's good to be back Ginny, I've missed you._ Ginny smiled back, and all of those unpleasant thoughts about Tom washed away completely. So quietly that not even a mouse could hear, she whispered, "I've missed you too."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Poor Ginny! This is NOT Ginny bashing. She's just under the influence of a horocrux again. Please review!**


	13. Umbridge vs Potter, Round 1

**Diclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 13

Sirius yawned as they finally started heading back to Grimmauld Place. Mad-Eye had them fly to the other side of London and circle the city twice before they were allowed to head back. Sirius never thought he'd see the day when he wanted to get off his broom and back to the place where he was born. Now all he wanted to do is eat a hot grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup and sleep what was left of the afternoon away. Of course, life was never that easy.

There were several loud pops as they started to descend onto the street. Sirius had no time to gape like he wanted to because Remus nosedived straight toward the group of about twenty Death Eaters, narrowly missing the jet of bright green that was aimed right at where his head was a moment ago.

Bellatrix laughed loudly as she cartwheel away from Remus and his disarming spell. "OOO! SIRI'S GUARD WOLF DOESN'T GO DOWN SO EASY! AHAHAHAHA!" Remus almost fell onto the stony asphalt but reared up his broom just in time to see Bellatrix stick her tongue out at him. Cackling, she tumbled away from Sirius's stinging hex.

Sirius landed roughly on the ground, surveying the Death Eaters that were attacking them to try and find anyone familar. It seemed the Bellatrix was leading Crabbe and Goyle, along with a blonde woman in a Death Eater mask and… "PETER!"

Peter was fighting for his life against Mad-Eye. Of all the people in the world, it had to be Mad-Eye. Why couldn't it be that clumsy girl or Remus? The full moon was in a week so Remus would have tired out easily. But instead, he had to duel with an old sack of potatoes that never seems to die. Mad-Eye chuckled. "Bet you wish you had time for those extra lessons with me, eh Traitor?"

Squeaking, Peter ducked out of the way of a stunner. Bellatrix said she wanted one dead to lower their morale. So why didn't she hurry up and kill someone? A jet of green light shot passed his head, making Peter yelp once more. Mad-Eye dodged it too and kicked his foot out to try to knock Peter down when they heard a high pitched scream that forced the entire battle to freeze.

It was a little boy, no older than five. It was clear that he and his mother were trying to run away from whatever they thought was going on. His mother was face down on the pavement, her arms and her legs bent in a way to suggest that she was running in the opposite direction of where the fighting was. Her left hand was outstretched because the last thing it was doing was grabbing her son's tiny arm. "MUMMY! MUMMY! WAKE UP! WE HAVE TO GET AWAY FROM THE MONSTERS!" he wailed.

Grinning madly, Bellatrix whistled, signaling for her group to flee. The Order will have to deal with the little boy who thought they were all monsters, who had no idea which side fought for what or who had killed his mother. Mrs. Weasley was rushing over to the little boy to try to drag him away from his dead parent, making him scream as if his life depended on it. Before anyone else could become unfrozen, there was a few more pops, and the Death Eaters were gone.

* * *

Harry felt the life drain out of him when he read the paper the next morning. The battle at Grimmauld made the front page, but it seemed that _The Prophet_ wanted to torture him along with the Ministry and only listed that there was an attack from the rogue Azkaban escapees and that there was one fatality. He felt himself shaking as he read the article and the rest of the newspaper three times, trying to find out if there was some hint as to who had died.

Ginny plopped down next to him, feeling better than she had the day before now that she had her secret friend back. "What's up? You look like you caught Ron and Hermione making out on the couch or something." Ron immediately started choking on his bacon, making her smirk.

With shaking hands, Harry handed her the newspaper. "I-I, what if…I feel sick…"

Frowning, Ginny took the paper and shrugged after skimming the article. "We don't know who it is, so you shouldn't get so worked up about it." A tiny, almost silent part of her was just as shaken up as Harry, wondering if it was her parents or one of her older brothers or anyone she was close to, really. But the rest of her was able to swat that part away like an annoying fly buzzing in her ear, and she was able to let indifference take over.

Ron bent over where Hermione was reading the front page and his eyes grew wider by the second. "But-but if something happened, they would tell us, right?" he asked without much confidence. "So i-it might be the papers making up something…" But for once, Ron didn't feel like eating and the food he already swallowed felt like a rock in his stomach.

Hermione glanced at the teachers table and then looked back at Harry. "Why don't you asked Dumbledore?" she whispered. "He's bound to know."

Harry looked at the table, but felt his insides turn to ice at the sight of Umbridge, who was reading the paper with a rather smug look on her ugly face. "In front of her? I doubt he would answer me. Should somebody wake Kim up?"

"Why?" Ginny asked, feeling rather bored. She had a feeling that they were going to do nothing but worry about this all day. "So you can listen to her cry and make things worse for the rest of the day? Write a letter to Sirius if it bothers you so much. And what ever happened to that mirror thingy anyway?"

Harry perked up. Sirius would definitely answer the mirror. "Thanks Gin " He kissed her on the cheek and hurried off the nearest boy's bathroom, the one place he knew Umbridge wouldn't dare follow him.

There were only a few people in the bathroom, so Harry pretended to try to wash a stain out of his shirt until everyone left. Anxiety was making it hard to breathe as he pulled the mirror out of his pocket. Now he was glad that Sirius hid it in his robes. "Sirius! Sirius!" From the looks of things, Sirius's mirror was on a table because he appeared to be looking at a ceiling.

It took a minute for Sirius to come into view, and once the mirror wasn't facing a ceiling anymore, Harry caught glimpses of the living room of the Burrow. "H-Harry? Did it make the paper? E-everything's fine…" But Harry could see everything wasn't fine. Sirius's eyes were red rimmed, and he could hear a man sobbing in the background. "I'll talk to you later today."

"But what happened? Who—?"

"I-I'm sorry Harry, but someone here is very upset…But I promise, everything's fine. I'll see you tonight," he said quickly before dropping the mirror back wherever he left it before.

Harry was just about to angrily shove the mirror back in his pocket before he heard Remus trying to comfort someone. "She was a good mother," he told the sobbing man so softly that Harry could hardly hear him. "She was protecting her son. As you know, the Killing Curse is very quick."

Harry felt all the color drain out of him. A good mother? But that could only be… No. Sirius would tell him if something happened to Mrs. Weasley. But doubt started to creep into his heart. Sirius was still keeping the real reason Voldemort was after him a secret so was it so odd to think that Sirius would keep this from him to try to spare his pain? Harry didn't know anymore. It wasn't something that Sirius could keep a secret forever though. He griped the sink to try to calm himself down. Mrs. Weasley was the first maternal figure he ever had. She was always nothing but kind to him, and now, Harry had reason to believe she was dead. Still, he couldn't say anything to Ron or Ginny. If he was wrong, they would never forgive him. He was just going to have to wait for Sirius to find the time to come see him.

* * *

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny waited for Harry for about an hour before reluctantly getting up to head to their Common Room. "You don't think something happened, and he's too upset to talk to us, do you?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Ron clenched his fists, feeling a little light headed. "The only way to find out is to find him. If he's not in the Common Room, I'm sure the Map is in his trunk, unless Kim's playing with it again." Sighing, Hermione nodded solemnly.

The two friends were interrupted from their fearful thoughts by Ginny's curiosity. "What's he doing here?" The pair turned around to see Cedric Diggory, who was showing a first year Ravenclaw which way to go to find the library. He looked rather pale, probably because Ravenclaw was Cho's house, and he had yet to recover from her murder.

"Well, he was hardly in school last year," Ron said without taking his eyes off the grieving young man. "He must want to graduate."

"That's good." But Hermione sounded like she wondered if it was a good idea for Cedric to return to the castle where his girlfriend was killed. "It's good for him to focus on his future…instead of dwelling on the past."

* * *

Harry hung outside Dumbledore's office for a while, hoping to catch a moment alone with the man without that toad breathing down their necks, but either the headmaster was already in there or he was busy with something else. _Hopefully not having to console the Weasleys._ Harry shook his head to try to shake away the bad thoughts. For all he knew, it was someone else who was crying and not Mr. Weasley. The thought only made Harry feel worse. If it was someone else, he would be happy, happy that someone else lost someone they loved and not his family. Damn it! He hoped Mrs. Weasley was okay but felt like a terrible person for hoping that it was someone else. "Harry?"

He looked up to see Ron with the Marauders' Map in his hand and Hermione and Ginny behind him. Harry felt his eyes widen and his heart sink into his stomach at their concerned faces. He couldn't face them, not now. Feeling like his mouth was full of sand, Harry said as quickly as he could, "Sirius is coming over in a few hours, so I'm going to…go somewhere until he gets here." Not caring that that was the lamest excuse in the history of history, Harry fled to the other side of the castle in hopes that they wouldn't search for him again.

"What do you think that means?" Ron asked fearfully.

Ginny rolled her eyes, wondering if she should be horrified by how apathetic she felt today. She inwardly shrugged and stated, "He probably misinterpreted something and has got his knickers in a twist over it."

Hermione gave Ginny an odd look. While she had to admit that Ginny was probably right, her close friend was acting out of character. Ginny wasn't trying to be calm and strong for her brother. It was almost like…she didn't care.

* * *

The little boy, whose name was Jonathan, apparently had a Squib father, which was why the man and his son were sobbing at the Burrow the morning after the murder instead of being Oblivated and having their memory modified at St. Mungo's. The man, Daniel, was inconsolable, and Molly wasn't going to let him leave until he had someone to help him in his time of need. His elderly parents picked him and Jonathan up around eleven, leaving the house so silent that it was suffocating.

After about five minutes, Sirius said tiredly, "I told Harry that I'd tell him what happened." He grabbed Remus's hand and started to head for the floo.

"Shouldn't we talk about what happened?" Mad-Eye asked gruffly, which was his way of demanding an Order meeting.

"Talk about it?" Sirius rolled his eyes jadedly. "We were attacked by Death Eaters, and an innocent little boy saw his mother die. What more is there to bloody talk about?"

"Odd, isn't it? That they knew exactly when we would be arriving." Mad-Eye clunked over to the middle of the room. "They weren't waiting for us. They knew when we would be coming. How would they know that we were scheduled to return to Headquarters at exactly 4:02 pm?"

Molly stopped making sandwiches at the dining room table and frowned. "But how? The only people who knew that were the ones at the Order meeting on Thursday."

Mad-Eye rubbed at his stubble. "Exactly."

* * *

Sirius and Remus finally made it to Hogwarts at two thirty, after assuring Mad-Eye that they told no one about what time they were expecting to return to Number 12 and agreeing to take truth serum later. The Gryffindor Common Room was crowded with nervous first years, but Sirius saw no sign of Harry, Kim, Ron, or Hermione. They found Ginny in the corner, rather bored and making a face that told all first years that she refused to show them around the castle.

Kim yawned as she stumbled down the stairs but immediately perked up at the sight of Remus and Sirius. "You guys came to visit already?!"

"Are you just waking up?" Remus asked suspiciously.

"Yuppers! I had a lot of homework to do! I still have to do my DADA essay and a History of Magic essay, but I think I'll be done by tomorrow night!" she replied thoughtfully.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Any idea wear Harry's run off to?"

"Ron and Hermione are fetching him," Ginny said, looking like she was trying to stay awake. "Whatever you said to him got him all worked up. He's been avoiding us all day."

Remus gave Sirius a look that said he was in trouble. "What? I just told him everything was fine!"

"And did you disconnect the mirror afterwards?" Remus raised an eyebrow while Sirius fidgeted. Sirius never disconnected the connection between the mirrors. "Perhaps he heard Daniel."

"Who?" Ginny and Kim asked at the same time.

Before Sirius could answer, Ron and Hermione arrived, tugging Harry along. "Ow! Hermione! That hurts!" She was literally dragging Harry by his ear.

Ginny looked at the group of first years huddled nearby. "Scram!" With a frightened yelp, the group of small boys scurried off.

Hermione finally let go, rolling her eyes when Harry rubbed at his ear. "Well if you didn't try to run away at the sight of us, I wouldn't have had to do it!"

"What happened?!" Kim squeaked. Harry looked at Sirius expectantly.

Sirius took a deep breath. "We were attacked heading back to Grimmauld. A stray killing curse hit a muggle woman. Her husband was a Squib, so he stayed at the Burrow until his parents came to pick him up. For obvious reasons, he was very shaken up."

Harry's relief quickly turned to anger. "Why didn't you just tell me that?" he said rather loudly, causing several first years to stare and whisper. Sighing angrily, he hissed, "I thought something happened to Mrs. Weasley!"

"You thought something happened to Mum, and you didn't say anything!" Ron yelled, gaining the attention of the room even more.

"I wasn't sure!" Harry found himself getting frustrated after worrying all day. "I heard Remus tell someone who was crying that she was a good mother who was trying to protect her son! He didn't say Mrs. Weasley, but I couldn't think of anyone else who it could be!"

"But it's still my mum!"

"Leave him alone," Ginny snapped. "Would you be all gun ho to tell him that something happened to Remus and Sirius, but you weren't one hundred percent sure that it really did?"

Before Ron could respond, Remus decided that it was time to end the show for the fearful first years. "How about we take this conversation to the kitchens?"

The only sound that could be heard as they headed to the kitchens was Kim complaining that no one ever tells her anything and then her complaining about everyone ignoring her. Harry could tell that Ron was mad at him but had no idea how to defend himself. He also wasn't sure if it was worth it to be angry with Sirius. He did tell him that everything was fine, and it wasn't like he could tell Harry what happened when he was in the same room with the man who lost his wife.

Meanwhile, Ginny was waiting for Harry to finally pick a fight with Sirius. The man was too over protective at the best of times and kept Harry in the dark at the worst of times. She knew that Harry hated that Sirius wouldn't tell him why Voldemort was after him, and she thought now was a good time for Harry to demand the truth. Sometimes Ginny thought Harry was a bit of a pushover.

And right now would be one of those times. "Okay. I'm not angry with you," Harry told Sirius once they were safe within the confines of Hogwarts Kitchens. "But I wish you went in another room or something. I was going nuts all day."

"Exactly!" Ron yelled. "You were hiding from us all day, and what do you think we thought about that?! We thought Sirius told you something so horrible that you couldn't face us! Plus, if you told us what happened, Hermione would have figured the whole thing out, and you wouldn't have been AWOL on us!" But he felt less angry with every word he spoke, and Hermione blushed at Ron's indirect praise.

Ginny looked at them all in disgust. "You guys are all idiots!"

"Hey!"

Ginny whirled around to face Kim. "Oh, especially you!"

Remus covered Sirius's mouth with one hand and pointed to an empty table with the other. "How about we have a late lunch together?" From Kim's hurt expression, he could tell that she had no idea what was bothering Ginny and hoped that Sirius wouldn't have an angry outburst before he could figure out what was going on.

Everyone was silent was they sat down, the teenagers sending Ginny curious looks, too shocked to continue the previous conversion. But Ginny ignored them. Tom wouldn't act like this. If someone was treating him badly, he would make sure the problem was solved in his favor and not get all caught up in forgiveness and love. He would never be pushed around like Harry or get over it so quickly like Ron. Tom would make sure that he was never kept in the dark again.

Ginny gripped the table. What was happening to her? Why was Tom all of the sudden back in her thoughts? After last night, he was never far from her thoughts, always just under the surface of her mind. It scared and excited her all at the same time. For some reason, Ginny would rather die than tell anyone about this new obsession. That was what scared her the most. She wanted Tom all to herself.

It took Sirius about five minutes to calm down while everyone else decided what to have for lunch. "So. If everyone can contain themselves." He sent a rather nasty look to Ginny, which she returned without flinching. Harry shrunk in his seat, making Remus feel obligated to send him an apologetic smile. "We have a problem."

"Is it Ginny?" Kim wondered hotly. "Because she's being a bit—" Hermione covered her mouth before she could finish her sentence. Ginny may have been awful lately, but as her friend, Hermione felt it was best for Ginny to either come to them or take the time to deal with it herself. Kim wanted to bite Hermione's hand so bad and call Ginny every name in the book, but she saw Harry fidgeting rather nervously and decided to call it quits for today.

As much as Sirius wanted to answer yes about Ginny, he decided that it was time to act like an adult for once and said, "No. Mad-Eye thinks there's a spy in the Order." He was again met with silence. "And we have no idea who it is."

"It's—" Kim began once her mouth was free.

Harry was finally able to grin after such a long day. "Say it, and I'll sow your mouth shut."

"But she's a home wrecker!"

Remus's eyes widened. "It is not Emmeline! She left on a mission with Hestia Jones in Ireland yesterday!"

Kim folded her arms as an elderly house elf headed their way, arms shaking under the weight of everyone's butter beers. "Whatever."

Annoyed by the sad look that Hermione gave the house elf as she made her way to help him and getting impatient, Ginny jumped out of her seat. "I'll get it," she grumbled. Sirius sent Harry a questioning look once Ginny's back was turned, but he only shrugged. He had no idea what Ginny was so angry about and had no idea how to figure it out.

Once the butter beers were set on the table, Kim decided to be a bothersome twin sister and snatched Harry's right out of his hand a split second before he went to take a sip. Harry rolled his eyes and went to grab another when Kim took a swig and immediately started choking. It was like her throat closed up so tightly that not even a drop could slither down her throat. Sirius, who thought Kim tried to swallow and laugh at the same time, was about to tell her that's what she deserved for teasing her brother, but then she spit up butter beer and blood all on the table.

It was one of the most bizarre and frightening things anyone at the table had ever seen. The blood seemed to be coming from her head rather than her stomach, and Harry thought she might have been choking on her own nosebleed because before Sirius could start freaking out, blood started pouring out of Kim's nose. Harry even saw a bit of blood coming out of her ears, and her eyes were suddenly red as if she were swimming in a pool with a lot of chlorine.

Remus was the first one to break the stunned silence. "Hospital Wing, NOW!" Harry heard panic in the edge of his commanding tone, but Kim was too afraid to move, and everyone was too afraid to move her. The bleeding seemed to have stopped, but she still looked like something out of a horror movie.

Harry felt a tiny hand tugged at his sleeve, and to his surprise, he saw Dobby looking up at him. "Dobby can fetch Madame Pomfrey, if Harry Potter wants it." Mouth to dry to speak, Harry nodded, feeling like his neck was a medal rod.

With two cracks, Madame Pomfrey was in the kitchens, looking both horrified and flummoxed. "Why is it always the two of you?" Kim could only stare at her. "Let's get you cleaned up, I suppose."

Once all the blood was wiped away, Kim looked perfectly fine, sans the red eyes, which only made things more confusing. She insisted that she wasn't in any pain and hadn't been when the incident had occurred either. But Sirius was already having hysterics. "You can't tell me that didn't hurt! I've never seen a poison like this!"

Harry paled and felt as if his heart stopped. A poison? But that meant that whatever happened or was happening to Kim was supposed to happen to him. She could be dead any second now for all he knew. "Quiet, Mr. Black," Madame Pomfrey growled. "There are no traces of poison in her system…all her vitals seem to be in order."

"Well, I'm sure there are untraceable poisons out there, Poppy!" Sirius continued to rant. "But how would they know that we were coming here today? I want all the house elves questioned," he demanded to no one in particular.

"Silence!" Madame Pomfrey waved her wand in Kim's direction a few more times and frowned. "Summon something for me."

"What?" The mediwitch gave Kim a stern look. "Um…okay." Taking her white wand out of her pocket, Kim said softly, "_Accio fork!_" Her heart sank with nothing happened. "Am I a—"

"No." Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "Your magical levels are steadily and slowly rising but are rather low. I think they crashed, but I don't understand why. Because you are an adolescent witch and not an infant, your body is dependent on magic. It seems that you magic crashed to nearly nothing for a split second, wreaking havoc on your brain."

"So my brain is bleeding?!" Kim squeaked.

"Not at the moment," was all the mediwitch was able to say.

"So what do we do now?" Remus asked cautiously.

Madame Pomfrey bit her lip. "There's nothing you can do really. Except hope it doesn't happen again. I've never heard of anything like this happening. I will report it to Albus immediately, but as far as I know, there's nothing I can do."

* * *

For someone who Harry knew was secretly jealous of when Sirius fussed over him, Kim didn't last too long with Sirius smothering her. He still thought that there poison involved so he tried everything Kim tried to eat or drink, and she wasn't going to eat anything that he already bit or sipped, so they were arguing within the hour. "SIRIUS! I'm thirsty, but you keep contaminating everything I want with your dog breath!"

"Do you want whatever the hell happened to happen again?!"

"I'm going to die of thirst and hunger before that happens!"

"That's not an answer to my question!"

"I can't answer your question because I am so weak from lack of sustenance! I'm going to die!" she cried out, falling on to the Common Room sofa and covering her eyes to show that she was withering away. She fell on top of a first year, who looked about ready to cry. Harry assumed it was because _The Prophet_ also published what Kim had done to Skeeter at the train station.

"Don't you have detention today?" Ginny thought this was getting out of hand. She wished Sirius would just go home.

Kim sat up, allowing the first year to make a run for it. "Oh yeah. I thought she was joking. I guess I better go."

Remus gave her a flabbergasted look. "You already got detention? Classes didn't even start yet!" She smiled at him, reminding him of James when he managed to get detention with Sirius on the train ride to third year.

"Maybe I should go with you…" Sirius said slowly.

"NO!" Kim ran out of the Common Room before he could reply.

Kim snuck to back to the kitchens before going to Umbridge's. It was nearly five o'clock and she had yet to eat because of Sirius. Umbridge never told her what time her detention was so Kim figured she could go whenever she wanted. She was a bit cautious once the food was in front of her. This was where Sirius said she was "poisoned", and he would never let her eat again if whatever made her bleed all over happened again without anyone around. Thankfully, when she took a bite of her omelet and a sip of her apple juice, nothing happened.

Feeling happy and fully, Kim kicked the door open to the office behind the DADA classroom and gaped. "What did you do to Remus's office?"

Umbridge simpered at Kim's repulsion towards her pink and kitten covered room. "This is my office, my dear. And you are over ten hours late for your detention." Kim raised her eyebrows. So it was a morning detention.

She only shrugged. "Better late than never."

"Fifty points from Gryffindor for your tardiness, Ms. Pendragon." Umbridge did her best to keep her voice sweet, but Kim could here this underlying tone that sounded rather hostile. It kept her from yelling that the professor never specified a time. "Now. Until midnight, you will be writing lines for me. You will write, 'I will show respect for my superiors.'" Kim felt her eye twitch. Maybe she should have let Sirius come after all.

Kim roughly pulled her seat out after Umbridge so kindly pointed to the desk that she would be sitting at for the night. She did her best not to pout but had a feeling that she looked like a little kid being denied dessert. And when she reached in her pocket to take out a quill, Umbridge had the nerve to shake her head at her. "No, no, no. I'd prefer it if you used my quill."

_And I'd prefer it if you shoved that quill up your ass_, Kim thought to herself. Flexing and unflexing her fingers to prepare herself for the night, Kim quickly snatched the quill out of Umbridge's hand and gasped when it instantly turned into gray ash in her hands. "Uh…", was all she could think of in response. Umbridge turned red for a moment and then handed Kim another with a smile.

Kim closed her eyes when she took the next one, but that didn't help the situation in the slightest. Once the quill was in her grasp, she felt it dissolve into grainy gray sand. She opened one eye. "Is this some kind of a joke?"

"It most certainly is not," Umbridge screeched. "I want you in Dumbledore's office. NOW!" That was the second time today Kim was commanded to go somewhere, and like last time, she felt rooted on the spot. Umbridge wasn't afraid to move her though. She yanked Kim up by the arm so hard that the poor girl yelped and dragged her over the headmaster's office.

To Kim's mortification, Remus and Sirius were already in Dumbledore's office along with Harry, who stopped petting Fawkes at the sight of Umbridge's enraged face. The woman was breathing so heavily that Kim felt like she was standing next to a water buffalo. "Ah, Dolores! What seems to be the occasion?" Dumbledore asked. Sirius was staring at Umbridge's meaty hand, which was still squeezing his goddaughter's arm. He didn't look happy.

Umbridge swung her arm and let go of Kim, making her practically fall onto Dumbledore's desk. She saw Remus's mouth become a thin line and winced. If they both attacked Umbridge, she'd have detention with the ghastly woman for the rest of the year. "She is tampering with my quills! Refusing to do lines! I want her suspended, Albus."

"Suspended? For not doing lines?" Remus sounded calm, but a deadly calm like the kind of calm a crazy person is before they chop someone up into a million billion pieces. "That sounds rather…drastic."

"Stupid," Sirius said at the same time. Kim groaned. Suspended before starting classes? She was going to fall so far behind.

Dumbledore held up a hand to silence them. "What exactly is the problem, Dolores? Miss Potter may get into trouble often, but she always is cooperative during her detentions."

"Every quill she holds she turns to ash!" Umbridge grabbed Kim's dusty right hand and yanked it into Dumbledore's view as evidence.

Sirius jumped out of his seat. "Let her go or—"

"Or what?" Umbridge smiled prettily at him. "Threatening a Ministry official is up to two years in Azkaban, Mr. Black."

"How did she turn it to ash, Dolores?" Albus kept saying Umbridge's name in hopes of holding her attention. If she saw how tightly Remus was gripping his wand, she would have him arrested for sure.

"She-she just hold's it, and it turns to ash!" Umbridge stuttered incredulously, having no idea how Kim, a mere fifth year, could manage to do that without a wand. Harry found himself just as bewildered. How could Kim do that, when a few hours ago she couldn't summon a fork from a table less than a yard away?

Kim was started to get upset too. She would have known if she had used magic, and she didn't. But of course, no one was going to believe her, at least, this fat toad wouldn't. "I DID NOT!" she screamed. Unfortunately, it didn't help her case when several windows in Dumbledore's office shattered and shards of glass went flying everywhere. She instantly froze as everyone else covered their heads. At lunch, her magic was so low that she couldn't even cast a spell. Now it was so high that she couldn't control it.

For what felt like forever, no one spoke. Finally, Dumbledore said, "Clearly, Miss Potter is having trouble with her magic today. Perhaps she can reschedule her detention?"

Dolores frowned. She didn't want to agree with Dumbledore, or even worse, do what he said in front of those blood traitors and lesser humans. But if she saved the detention for a later date, it would give her time to buy more blood quills and put charms on them that would make them less susceptible to magic. Plus, if she agreed with the old fool now, it might give him a false sense of hope that she would be docile and do whatever he wished. Then he would be in for quite a nasty shock when she took over the school. "Very well," she said with a sigh. "I suppose I will talk to you about it next week, Miss Pendragon. Until then, see you in class." She left without another word.

Sirius laughed without humor. They had simply come to tell Harry and Kim about the tragedy that occurred yesterday, and now this. "This had better not be an attempt to get out of detention."

Kim felt her face turn red. She hadn't lost control of her magic in a long time, and this time, it wasn't even for an understandable reason. "Leave me alone." She stomped off to find Draco, who was giving a group of first year Slytherins a tour of the library.

"Perhaps this was her magic bouncing back?" Remus wondered aloud, hoping that this was a fluke and would never happen again.

"Isn't it weird that it would spike up and down like that?" Harry asked. "Has this ever happened before, sir?"

"Not that I know of," Dumbledore replied gravely. "Poppy is looking into it. The only thing we can do is keep an eye on her."

* * *

On their way to their first DADA class, Harry noticed that Kim was more hyper than usual. It wasn't her occasional coffee jitters either. Something about her was buzzing in a way that he found rather creepy. She stuck to Draco like glue, and the Slytherin prefect was in permanent blush by how over affectionate she was today. She never let go of his hand for more than a few seconds at a time, and if a first year Slytherin stopped him for directions, she would snake her arms around his waist until he started walking again. Ron made gagging noises the three times this happened, but Kim was too hyper to even notice and tease him back.

Figuring it was a girl thing, Harry whispered to Hermione once they were in the classroom, "What is up with her today?"

Hermione glared at him but after a moment shrugged, sending Kim a curious look, who was sitting next to Draco and had one of her legs on top of his own and talking to him a mile a minute. "I haven't the slightest clue! But she woke up at six in the morning today and has been like this ever since. She was prancing around the dorm in her underwear, chattering about how excited she was to see Draco today. She even gave in to Lavender and told her how much of a good kisser he was."

"Er, too much information Hermione." Ron nodded in agreement.

"Well, imagine having to hear it," she groused.

"Good morning!" Umbridge sang to her class, reminding Harry of a preschool teacher.

Kim swung away from Draco and stared at Umbridge with blazing eyes. "GOOD MORNING!" Draco leaned over the desk and sent Harry a bewildered look, but all he could do was shrug in response. Kim hated Umbridge, but it seemed her crazed cheerfulness was making her forget, even though they had an altercation just two days ago.

Umbridge smiled sweetly, making Kim smile back, and Harry shiver at its creepiness. "Thank you, Miss Pendragon." Kim's smile quickly became a frown, and she fidgeted in her seat. "But I would like the rest of the class to join us!"

Harry made his lips form a thin line when the rest of the class mumbled good morning and had to repeat more enthusiastically. He didn't care how many detentions he got. He wasn't going to wish a woman that he knew had it out for Remus a good morning.

And from the looks of things so far, Umbridge was a horrible teacher. She just wanted them to learn theory and not practice anything! They were spending the class reading Chapter One of the most boring book in the world. Harry almost fell asleep after reading one page, only waking up with a jolt as he started falling out of his seat, and Hermione seemed to be in a silent protest, refusing to read and having her hand up in the air, which was being ignored for the moment. Kim was drawling all over Malfoy's book and kept kissing him on the cheek to try to distract him. He was doing his best to ignore her and stared stonily at the page. Blaise and Pansy were laughing at him in the corner. Ron had his book propped up and had a copy of a magazine called _The Quibbler_ inside of it, which he had borrowed from Kim at breakfast.

"Is there a problem, Miss—?" Umbridge smiled at her, reminding Harry of a hungry shark.

"Granger," Hermione said firmly. "I was wondering when we were going to be _using_ spells?"

Umbridge blinked at her. "_Using_ spells? Why on earth would we need to do that, darling?"

Hermione gave her a look like she was an idiot. "Isn't that the point of the class? To learn how to defend ourselves?"

Umbridge chuckled. "The point of this class is to pass the OWLs examination. Unless you expect to be attacked in this class, you will not be using any defensive spells here."

"So if Voldemort attacks us, we'll use our theory books as a shield," Harry said hotly. There were several gasps from the classroom. Kim smiled brightly at him.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Potter. You will not be using that name in my classroom!" Umbridge huffed loudly.

"This isn't a classroom!" Harry found himself close to yelling. "This is a pathetic excuse for the Ministry to try to control Professor Dumbledore! You couldn't teach a four year old how to put away his blocks!"

"That is enough! Be silent, Mr. Potter, or face the consequences!" Umbridge started to swell up with anger. No one talked to the Minister's Senior Undersecretary like that!

"Consequences? Everyone in this school is going to face the consequences if they are attacked by Voldemort or Death Eaters, and they only know how to consult a textbook!"

"Detention, Mr. Potter!"

Harry wanted to yell some more but was interrupted by his insane sister. "What if—?"

"Raise your hand, Miss Pendragon!" Umbridge said sharply.

Kim raised her hand but didn't wait to be called on. "What if we _are_ attacked in here? Can we use spells then?"

"When would there be a situation where you would be attacked in my classroom, Miss Pendragon?" Umbridge clenched her fists at the fact that Kim didn't wait to be acknowledged.

Kim took that as an invitation to demonstrate and sauntered to the head of the classroom. Draco grabbed at her sleeve when she rose from the desk, but she ignored him. "Okay." She grabbed Umbridge by the shoulders. "You be me." And then she puffed out her chest to make herself look bigger. "And I'll be one of the boys." Hermione covered her mouth with her hands to keep from yelling at Kim to stop. She had a feeling that she knew where this was going.

"Hey baby." Kim snaked her arm around Umbridge's shoulder, who went rigid and looked like _she_ was afraid of being attacked. "How about you and me swap a bit more than just notes in the library at lunch? If you know what I mean."

"Si-sit down, Miss Pendragon!" Umbridge's face turned pink to match her outfit. The rest of the class stared at her in horror. Ron looked like he was using his mouth to catch flies.

But Kim's play wouldn't be over until she showed Umbridge that she might need to defend herself in the classroom. She shook her head and pointed to the display of the skeleton of a dragon over them. Then she spoke in a deep voice that actually sounded a bit like Millicent Bulstrode's. "Professor Umbridge is ignoring your raised hand, you foxy thing. And since you can't defend yourself, I'm going to have to take what you won't give me." Deciding her play was over, Kim bowed to the audience, expecting applause and getting stunned silence.

And so was the day that Kim was charged with sexual harassment.

* * *

Sirius couldn't believe the letter he had gotten yesterday. Didn't he tell her around the last full moon not to pull shit like this? He didn't dare mention this to Remus, since the man had a bit of a fever that day and the full moon was in less than four days. Sirius had no idea how and why Kim managed to sexually harass that old toad, but he was going to yell at her until he turned blue once the matter was settled.

Harry had sent him a letter explaining that he had gotten detention too, leading Sirius to believe that Umbridge's class turned out to be more of a circus than Defense Against the Dark Arts. His detention would be on Friday while Umbridge wanted Kim suspended until winter, which meant Minerva was going to be at this meeting too. She assured Sirius this morning that she would not suspend Kim, but she was going to give her detention until January and ban her from leaving the school just as long.

* * *

Kim woke up this morning feeling like she fell off of the Astronomy Tower. Her head hurt, and there was an indescribable darkness inside of her that made her want to hurt someone. She felt so drained but not tired at the same time. Something inside of her was depleted, but it wasn't her energy. It couldn't be her magic like the other day because she wasn't bleeding or anything. But then again, she wasn't an expert. Either way, she had to get to Dumbledore's office before classes started to talk about her little stunt yesterday. Now that she looked back on it, it was a stupid thing to do. It was weird. She felt so wired and bursting with happiness yesterday and so irritable today.

Kicking away her dirty clothes and grumbling about having to get ready, Kim looked in the mirror to see dark circles under her eyes, messy hair, and wrinkly clothes that were hastily thrown on her body. Hopefully Umbridge wouldn't accuse her off having a hangover because she was most definitely not in the mood to have to defend herself today.

She was half way to Dumbledore's office when she realized she wasn't wearing shoes. Screaming about how frustrating this day already was and cursing at how cold her feet were getting on the stone floor, she turned around and tried to head back to Gryffindor Tower, and she was almost there too, but then she had to see a Slytherin prefect bully Luna Lovegood.

Normally, Kim would have threatened them, gotten into an argument and left it at that. But today was different. Today she was filled with such an indescribable anger that she knew things were going to escalate out proportion before she even said anything. "Where's Looney Lovegood heading to at this hour?" the prefect asked as his friends howled with laughter. "Going to chase imaginary faerie unicorns all around school, better known as dust particles?" Luna tried to hold up her head and keep walking, but a sixth year Ravenclaw blocked her path. Her face turned red and her eyes filled with tears at the panic of not knowing what to do when Kim literally kicked the Slytherin prefect right in the ass.

The prefect whirled around and smirked, trying to ignore that now his friends were laughing at him, since he almost fell. "Oh goody. I haven't given a detention yet today. Fifty points from Gryffin—" He didn't get to finish because Kim punched him in the mouth so hard that several teeth fell to the ground about five seconds before he did. His friends ran off to find Professor Snape when he tried to get up, and she kicked him in the head, yelping when she remembered that she wasn't wearing shoes. Growling like a wild jungle cat, Kim pounced on top of him and started punching, scratching, and kicking. She only thought about how much trouble she would be in when Snape pried her off the prefect and dragged her to Dumbledore's office.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Kim won't be crazy like this the entire time this year. There's a pattern to it that Harry comes so close to figuring out! Please review!**


	14. Round 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 14

Sirius expected a number of things when he thought of Kim coming to the headmaster's office to discuss her punishment. He thought she would be fearful but relax when she saw that Remus wasn't present. He thought she would have an attitude and act like an arrogant brat. What he didn't think was that she would show up looking angry enough to kill someone and covered in splatters of blood that were (thankfully) not hers. Umbridge smiled like a kid on Christmas morning.

Snape, however, looked far from happy. "I wouldn't be surprised if charges were to be pressed." Sirius swore under his breath. While he could tell that Kim had been in a fight, he was hoping that whoever her opponent was had started it. He didn't trust Snape, but he knew that he was implying that Kim blew whatever happened way out of proportion. If she didn't, the potions master would be bitching about suspension or expulsion.

"You can tell the bastard that I'll really kick his ass if he ever messes with Luna again!" Kim snapped, eyes filled with cold fury.

"What-what is the problem here?" Minerva was trying to keep her temper in check. She was really putting herself on the line to try to keep Kim in school, but this was too much. There was no way Miss Potter was leaving this office without a suspension.

"What clearly has happened…" Umbridge had to pause a moment to giggle with glee. "Is that Miss Potter has managed to commit two crimes in less than two days. I believe that hold grounds for expulsion." Kim started breathing heavily making Sirius look up to the heavens and beg whoever was up there that Kim didn't attack this foul woman. Whatever was wrong with her today, he couldn't fix in front of Umbridge.

"From what I heard, Dolores, Miss Potter was demonstrating a situation that would call for her to have experience with defensive incantations." For the first time in many years, Albus felt like he was grasping for straws. "I don't think it was her intent to make you feel violated."

"I don't care what her intent was," Umbridge barked. "She acted inappropriately! If she is not expelled, I want her brought before the Wizengamot!" While Umbridge had her back turned to yell at Dumbledore, Sirius cast a quick silencing charm on his goddaughter. She made to charge at him, but Snape held her back. Sirius raised his eyebrows, which was the closest thing Snape was ever going to get to a thank you.

"She will be suspended for the rest of the week," Minvera said firmly. "But for no longer. She will also have detention every night from seven pm until midnight for the next three months with me, and she will be banned from Hogsmeade for the entire year. She will not be allowed to leave the grounds except for Christmas holiday for the year, and she will spend her Sunday _mornings_ tutoring first years in Potions for the rest of the term."

Even if Kim could speak right now, she would be speechless. Never had she been punished so severely, and McGonagall didn't even know exactly what she did this morning! And since she would be suspended for a week, Remus was bound to find out what happened. This wasn't even the worst thing she had ever done!

Seeing how upset this made Kim and again wanting to give these fools false pretenses about how compliant she was, Umbridge decided to agree. "Very well," she said stiffly. "I suppose that will make her learn her lesson. I don't want her back at school until next Tuesday night." She pretended to hold back tears, closing her eyes and not seeing Kim roll her own. "I think I will be able to recover from my ordeal by then."

Sirius gritted his teeth as she dragged Kim through the floo. She was thrashing violently and silently screaming as he continued to drag her into the hallway. "No, I am not lifting the charm," he said as he set up weak wards behind him. "It'll wear off eventually but until then, I think it's best that you spend some quality time with my dear old mum, since you've decided to act like her today." Before Kim could make a mad dash past him, Sirius hopped out of the hallway and set up wards that she crashed into a second later.

Knowing that Remus was going to wake up any second because of the distant screams of Walburga, Sirius slipped into bed and put his arms around Remus's waist. Remus opened his eyes but closed them quickly. "What is that ghastly woman going on about now?"

Sirius rested his head on Remus's chest and did his best to look up at him with puppy eyes. "Remus?"

Remus already knew that whatever Sirius had to say wasn't good. "Hmmm?"

"Don't be surprised if Kim is here for the rest of the week. And if she can't go to Hogsmeade or leave school for the rest of the year. Or if she complains about late night detentions and having to get up early on Sundays. Or if she is in the worst mood you've ever seen her in today."

"What?" Remus's eyes snapped open, but since the full moon was in less than four days, and he wasn't feeling to well, he didn't have the strength to sit up like he wanted too.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU DUMB BITCH!" A thunderous crash shook the whole house, making Sirius wince. He knew he should've cast a stronger silencing charm.

"Wha-what is wrong with her?" Remus wasn't even sure if he wanted to know.

Sirius looked back up at him. "Not entirely sure. But she sexually harassed Umbridge yesterday and beat the crap out of someone picking on Luna Lovegood today. So I'm guessing something is not quite right with her." There was another crash, followed by another, and Walburga could be heard screaming about halfbloods being the death of society. "But I wouldn't worry about it if I were you," Sirius said with obvious sarcasm.

Remus took a moment to allow what he heard to sink in, but no matter how much time went by, he soon realized that he was never going to think about what he just heard calmly. "From the sound of things, she needs some time alone…" Remus felt like this was one of those moments that Molly Weasley couldn't give him parenting advice. "And tell Kreacher to make sure she has food and bathroom time today, but she is to remain in the hall way unless she needs to use the toilet…"

"You don't want to kill her Remus!" But Sirius received a stern look that kept him quiet.

"And we'll have a long talk with her tomorrow." Sirius shuddered. If Kim is anything like this tomorrow, he didn't want to have a short talk with her, let alone a long one.

* * *

Kim was more confused than anything the next day. Her head still hurt, but not as bad as it did yesterday, and she felt calm, the kind of eerie calm that one feels after a big thunderstorm. Looking around, she realized that she had fallen asleep on the floor next to Walburga's portrait. Yesterday, she managed to punch several holes in the wall and rip the framing off the woman's portrait after she called her the daughter of a mudblood whore.

When she stood up, she was stiff and wasn't too pleased to find that Sirius left the wards up. _So much for taking a bath._ Kim felt really tired today, as if she just got over being sick, and all she wanted to do was sleep and not get the lecture of a lifetime she knew Remus was going to give her. It's not that she didn't regret what she did in the past two days, she did, but it was almost like she couldn't control herself so she had no idea what she was going to say about it today.

After about an hour, Sirius found Kim dozing with her head against the wall and frowned at all the holes she made yesterday while having her little tantrum. "Remus says get up so he can talk to you." With a flick of his wand the wards fell, and Kim was blinking sleepily at him. "You're in trouble," Sirius teased. He couldn't help but grin when she scrunched up her nose at him.

Kim counted to ten in her head so she wouldn't snap at him. Maybe it was best if she didn't talk at all today. She got up too fast and black spots danced before her eyes, clogging up her vision. Yep, today was definitely going to be terrible.

She walked to Remus's room slowly, and Sirius didn't blame her. Dumbledore sent them a letter an hour ago explaining exactly what happened yesterday morning. She acted like an animal. But within a few minutes they were in his room, where he had Remus propped up with pillows. Kim closed her eyes as if that would make up for the fact that she wouldn't dare to cover her ears. "I'm not going to scream," Remus said calmly, the disappointment was clear in his voice. Kim opened one eye, wondering if that was even worse. "I would like to know what you were thinking when you attacked that prefect. Did you know that he was unconscious until this morning?"

"No." Kim finally looked at Remus in the eye. "But he was being so mean to Luna!"

"Since when do you know Luna?" Sirius asked. He had briefly taught the strange girl two years ago, but as far as he knew, Kim and Luna never crossed paths.

"Since Friday," Kim muttered. "I don't know why I attacked him. I was just so angry…" What she didn't know how to explain was the fact that it wasn't the prefect that set her off. Something was definitely wrong yesterday, but she feared what would happen if she tried to explain it. If they didn't believe her, Remus and Sirius would think she was trying to escape punishment. If they did, they might think she was crazy, and she had enough of that last year.

Remus sighed with such disappointment that Kim couldn't help but fidget. "I really don't know what to say to you. You will be cleaning the house with Sirius for the rest of the week while you're here. And don't you dare head downstairs during the full moon. Your room will be warded."

* * *

Kim was silent as she scrubbed away dust in the strange room that was next to Sirius's parents' old room. It had the weirdest chair she had ever seen and a bed set in the corner that lacked a mattress. "He won't be mad forever." Sirius grinned when she peered at him through her lashes. "Trust me. I've made him pretty angry over the years, and this is nothing compared to sixth year."

She pursed her lips as she scrubbed the odd chair that was caked in dust. "Who would want to sit on this thing anyway?" Sirius took one look in the chair and started laughing quietly to himself. "What?"

"It's a birthing chair." Kim stared at him blankly and then with a yelp, she flung herself away from it. She just had her hands on the chair that Sirius was born in? His mother was probably sitting in it with no underwear for hours on end until he shot out of her.

"Gross! Gross! Gross! Why didn't you tell me?!" she shrieked.

Sirius grinned. "All part of your punishment, I'm afraid. I was going to throw it out, but I didn't want to touch it."

"Part of my punishment my ass! That's ju-just-UG! Why couldn't we clean the basement or the attic or Kreacher's stanky room?! Anything but this!" she wailed.

"Remus's orders." Sirius felt his shoulders slump. "It's my punishment for not telling him about Monday."

* * *

Hermione found herself holed up in the library by Thursday. There were rumors floating around that went from Kim being expelled and going back to America to Kim being chucked in Azkaban for nearly killing a prefect. Harry snapped at a young Hufflepuff who wanted to know if he was going to visit his sister as she rots away in prison. The second year wound up crying, and, sadly for Harry, Umbridge caught wind of it and made his detention a double. Malfoy was unofficially banned from Slytherin after he sided with girlfriend and not his house, so when he wasn't writing to Kim, he was asking them if they heard from her.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" said a shy, sad voice. Hermione felt her insides freeze up as she looked up and saw Cedric's detached gray eyes.

"Be my guest," Hermione answered quickly. She gestured to the seat next to her nervously, half afraid that he would burst into tears if he thought she didn't want him to sit there. He smiled at her jitteriness and sat down. They read together for almost an hour.

"How are you and Viktor?" Cedric asked politely, not really wanting to talk but not wanting their comfortable silence to turn into an awkward one.

Hermione bit her lip to keep from smiling. "He sends letters now and again, but I think we're better off as long distance friends. I liked him, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I felt like more his teacher than his girlfriend." Hermione blushed. She hadn't even told her friends that, even though Ginny occasionally made jokes about her having a foreign lover. "He was so curious, and that's what I liked about him, but…"

"It was missing something?" Hermione nodded vigorously. She couldn't find fault in Viktor, at least, not enough faults to break up with him, but their relationship lacked that spark that she always dreamed about. Cedric chuckled, a sound that Hermione had a feeling was rare nowadays. "I remember my first girlfriend. It was the summer before my third year, and she was a Muggle girl who lived across the street. I kissed her, and she kissed me back. I thought I was the luckiest guy in the world. That is, until her braces split open my bottom lip." Hermione giggled and found that it took several minutes for her to stop. "Hey!" Cedric pretended to sound offended. "I can never look at Maggie the same again. I had nightmares for the rest of the summer!" That only made Hermione laugh harder until Cedric started to feel laughter bubble up inside him. It felt good, and for once, Cedric didn't feel guilty about it.

* * *

As Harry headed to his detention with Umbridge, he couldn't help but wonder what she had in store for him. In class, she often baited him, frowning when he chose to flat out ignore her and occasionally deducting points. That told him that she was looking forward to this detention and wanted nothing more than to give him another.

She greeted him warmly when he walked into her office, which Harry took as not a good sign. "Good evening, Mr. Potter. Tonight's detention will be three hours." Harry raised his eyebrows. Only three hours for a double detention? Then he must have to do something horrible. "You will be writing lines tonight. You will write, _I must not tell lies_."

Harry wanted to yell that he didn't tell lies but sat down instead. The sooner he got this over with, the better. "Er, okay." He didn't know what else to say, but Umbridge was staring at him like she was a vulture waiting for him to die.

"You will use my quills of course." Umbridge giggled. "And I hope you won't break them like your sister." Harry assumed that was her language for _you better not break them._

The desk creaked when he sat in it, and Harry was sure that was how his bones would feel in a few hours. "Do you have any ink?" Harry had some in his bag, but he wasn't about to waste it for Umbridge.

Umbridge smiled, showing him pointy white teeth. "This quill doesn't need ink."

"Okay…"

Harry gasped when he began to write. It was like the words were being carved a layer under his skin. _I must not tell lies_ appeared in angry red letters in the center of his hand. He looked up at Umbridge, who was smiling, and knew that she was going to make him write like this for the three hours that she promised. "Is something wrong?"

"No. I was just…" Harry shook his head and continued to write.

He tried to keep his face blank as he wrote. But it was getting harder and harder as he wrote page after page. The pain was ten times worse than a paper cut, and whenever the pain started to go away, he would have to write another line to make it worse. He felt like a nine year old little kid again. But this time it was Umbridge instead of Uncle Vernon, and he was writing with his own blood instead of digging and filling in holes in the backyard garden under the sweltering sun.

Harry found himself counting the minutes on the clock. Even though the cuts healed instantly and left only irritated skin, he felt like someone had stabbed him in the hand with a scalding hot fork by the time his detention was half finished. He almost cried out for joy when the clock struck ten. But no, he would not give Umbridge that satisfaction. "Oh, look at the time!" She spoke cheerfully as if they were having tea together instead of the torture that was really taking place. "May I see your hand, Mr. Potter?"

As much as he wanted to say no, Harry didn't want to risk another detention. So, he showed the toad his hand, which had swollen letters written on it and was throbbing. She smiled like he was showing her the finest of watches. "It seems that you haven't learned your lesson, Mr. Potter. My words of wisdom have not _sunk in_."

"I severed my detention." Harry took a deep breath and looked out the window. It was a full moon, so there was no way that he was going to get a hold of Sirius tonight.

"Yes. Well, Nicolas Grimmett, that is who your sister attempted to murder you see, wants to press charges against her. I'm doing all I can to keep you sister out of prison, darling." Umbridge let her fingers ghost over the words on Harry's hand. He winced and tried to cover it up with a grimace at the woman's words. She was blackmailing him into serving another detention since she couldn't goad him into another one during class this week. And she knew his weakness too. He wasn't about to let a family member suffer so he wouldn't have to serve detention.

Letting out a shuddery breath, Harry mumbled, "See you tomorrow then."

Umbridge smiled brightly and gripped his hand, almost making him cry out. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Potter."

* * *

Harry decided to use the mirror after taking a shower the next morning. The hot water was the only thing that was able to numb the pain on his hand. He wasn't about to go to Madame Pomfrey for a pain reliever potion. She would ask too many questions that Harry didn't want to answer right now. She would look at him with pity and march him straight to Dumbledore's office. "Sirius?" It was all he could do to keep the anxiety out of his voice.

Sirius smiled sleepily at him a minute later. "What's up? I was just falling asleep while cooking porridge. You saved me from being burned alive." Sirius frowned at the look on Harry's face. "What's wrong?"

"SIRIUS! REMUS IS THROWING UP!"

Sirius swore. "Sorry. Remus has the flu. How anyone could get it in early September, I don't know. Can you wait a minute?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Harry ran his hands threw his hair. If he told Sirius about last night, his godfather would be at Hogwarts before he could say Quidditch, but Remus was sick, and Sirius might leave him for hours. "You know what? It's nothing. Never mind."

"Are you sure?" Sirius clearly didn't believe him.

Harry nodded. "I ha-have to go practice Quidditch anyway." He dropped the mirror and ran out of the room before Sirius could say another word. He was a fool for trying to tell Sirius. He didn't want Sirius to hurt Umbridge because he was still freaked out by her threat. If she could threaten to send Kim to Azkaban, then she certainly would send Sirius to prison in a heartbeat. It was too great a risk.

"Harry? Harry?" Sirius called out. Something wasn't right with him. Sirius could feel it, but he didn't know what to do about it. He couldn't leave Remus to investigate right now.

"SIRIUS!"

"I'm coming!" he yelled. "What kind of healer are you if you can't handle throw up?"

"I-I…It's everywhere!" Sirius heard her wail. Well, that'll teach her to never get suspended again.

* * *

Even though this week away from school was a bit on the awful side, Kim found herself nervous to return, thinking that everyone would be mad at her or be too afraid of her to give her the time of day. She didn't have the train ride to prepare herself since the Order members thought it would be safer for her to take the floo, so in a matter of minutes she was heading to Gryffindor Tower, feeling hundreds of eyes watching her as she went.

What she didn't expect was that Draco would be upset with her. "Do you know what kind of a position you put me in? All the other Slytherins hate me now because I chose you over them!" He had pulled her in a dark corridor and not for the kiss that she was hoping for.

"I'm sorry!" she whispered loudly. "They can't all hate you. Even Blaise?"

Draco's eyes hardened. "He's afraid that he'll be ostracized if he talks to me when others are watching. The only one who isn't afraid to talk to me is Daphne. And I don't even like her! Well, Theo isn't angry over what happened since it was his girlfriend that you were defending, but we don't get along to begin with..."

Kim felt her eyes burn because of how lonely she knew Draco must feel but quickly blinked any tears away. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! It was like, I lost control…I don't know. It's hard to explain."

Draco sighed. "Can you promise me that you won't do anything like that again?"

Kim bit her lip. She didn't even feel like herself that day and wasn't sure if she could control herself if it happened again. But she was going to have to try. "I promise."

Draco's expression softened. "Then I forgive you." He was surprised to taste salt when he kissed her and paused until he realized that she was crying. Unfortunately, he had a feeling that she would really start crying if he asked her about it, so they remained kissing in the corridor until Kim had to run off to her detention with McGonagall.

* * *

Professor McGonagall had Kim doing homework for the first half of her detention and worked with her to improve her animagus transformation the other half, so really, the woman was helping her more than anything. Kim wanted to know why the stern woman was going so easy on her but thought it was best not to ask in case McGonagall decided to change her mind. Kim felt guilty about what she did on Tuesday, could care less about what happened on Monday (even if she admitted to herself that it was stupid), and was worried about Draco since this morning. While most of the people in Gryffindor thought she was odd, she couldn't imagine what it would be like if they all hated her. Plus Draco didn't really have his parents. She was worried about how lonely he must be.

She felt even worse after she entered to Common Room to find Harry struggling to do his homework. "What's wrong with your hand? It's all red."

Harry jumped up as if she had screamed in her ear. "I-i-it's nothing. I just scraped it, that's all."

Kim gave him a funny look. "Then why are you so jumpy?"

Harry looked around to make sure no one was looking or listening. The Common Room was empty. "Actually, I think it's getting infected. Do you, er, have anything?"

"Um, yeah I think so." Kim ran up the stairs knowing that something was definitely wrong, but if Harry wasn't going to tell her, she wasn't going to be able to help him.

"I-I can put it on myself," Harry stammered as she came downstairs with some salve and gauze.

Kim pursed her lips and put the medicine behind her back. "Tell me what's wrong or I'll tell Sirius that you have an infection and that you won't tell me why you're hurt!"

Harry's eyes widened. "No! You-you have to promise not to tell, okay? I don't want anyone to know about this."

Kim looked at him cautiously. If it was that bad, then she definitely should tell Sirius, but she didn't want Harry to be angry with her, like everyone else was. Maybe she could help him. "Okay," she conceded reluctantly.

Harry looked at the ground. "I had detention with Umbridge these past two nights. She uses these-these quills that use blood for ink…"

Kim's eyes bulged so far out of her head that they hurt. "Blood quills?" she half shouted.

"Be quiet!" Harry hissed, looking around frantically at imaginary people to see if they were listening.

"You have to tell Sirius or Remus or Dumbledore or McGonagall or anyone! Even Snape isn't that bad." She handed him the salve and the gauze and whispered, "It's not like you have any reason to protect that old hag."

"I-I can handle this myself," Harry told her stubbornly. "I only have to not get detention anymore. I don't want to feel like some child abuse victim."

Anger flickered through Kim's eyes for the first time since last week. "I'll kill her."

"Leave her alone!" Harry didn't want to tell her that he was fearful that the worse Kim got, the more detentions he would receive in return. "Please." He tried to keep the desperation out of his voice.

Kim frowned. She wouldn't leave Umbridge alone, but the bitch wouldn't have to know that. "I won't bother her in class anymore." Time to start pranking.

* * *

Ginny yawned after a long day. The fourth years ended the day with double Potions AND Defense, making Ginny want to beat her head against the wall. The rest of her dorm mates were downstairs doing an assignment for Umbridge that was due tomorrow. Ginny honestly could care less about homework right now. Maybe if it was for an important class she could bring herself to bother, but as of now, she couldn't take Defense seriously. She could probably finish the summarizing chapter two at breakfast and still get a decent grade.

She was just about to head to bed to get an early night's rest when she heard the voice that she had been waiting to hear since September first. "Hello, Ginny."

Ginny spun around to see the handsome teenager that was her only friend during her first year. He wore a charming smile and an air of confidence that she envied. "Tom!" He bowed his head, feigning bashfulness. "What are you doing here?"

His smile only widened. "Is that any way to greet your best friend?" Ginny let out a breathless laugh. "I simply wanted to see how you're doing. You didn't seem too happy with Harry last week."

For some reason, Ginny didn't question how Tom knew that. She only frowned and rolled her eyes. "I wish he would stick up to Sirius. I mean, Sirius thinks he can coddle Harry like he's a baby. And Harry lets him!"

Tom paused, thinking about what to say. If he played his cards right, he could get Ginny to hand over the Prophecy. "Maybe you should tell Harry this. Open his eyes, you know? Then he'll demand that Sirius treat him with respect."

Ginny snorted. "Like that'll ever happen. Harry will do anything to avoid an argument. He usually avoids Sirius if he's mad at him."

"Perhaps time away from Sirius would do him some good." Tom ran his hand across the glossy wood of Ginny's dresser. "Sirius might appreciate him more." He sat on Ginny's bed, deep in thought. If there was one thing that kept Harry going, it was his friends and family. If Ginny could take Harry away from them, the boy would be sure to break and become putty in Ginny's hands. Then she could get him to whatever she wanted and find out about the prophecy. "A break from everyone would probably do him a world of good."

"Yeah, like that'll ever happen." Ginny blushed at the fact that Tom was making himself comfortable on her bed. No boy was ever in her room before, not even Harry.

"It can if you make it happen."

"What do you mean?" But Tom had suddenly vanished, and Ginny felt a deep longing in her heart. She had to do what Tom said because then maybe, hopefully, he would come back. She had to try to keep Harry all to herself in order to make him see that he could no longer be a pushover. And to do that, she must keep him away from everyone that bosses him around. Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and especially Kim. Once they saw that Harry was no longer taking any of their shit, they give Harry what he wanted, what Tom wanted.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	15. Partying with Slytherins

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 15

Kim grinned evilly as she drowned her pancakes in syrup two weeks later. She teamed up with Fred and George for this prank while Harry and Ron were busy making up dreams for Divination, and Hermione was doing extra credit. She could barely contain her excitement as Umbridge sat down for breakfast. Harry smiled at her. At least this wasn't the creepy excited, but he could tell she was up to something.

But before Harry could ask, the entire Great Hall was filled with bright purple smoke. Coughing, Harry couldn't help but notice how chalky it tasted, but when he waved his hand at the substance, it felt like liquid. He hoped no one had an asthma attack.

When the smoke cleared, Harry found himself looking at a sea of cobalt blue hair. The only one who didn't have blue hair was none other than Dolores Umbridge. Instead, her hair was tomato red and her face was covered in makeup, making her look like a clown from a horror movie. She didn't seem to notice, however, and decided to take authority over the situation. "I want whoever is responsible for this to step forward immediately!" But that only drew more attention to herself, and soon a good majority of the school was laughing at their professor. "I fail to see the humor in this!" she shouted.

Umbridge continued to shout throughout breakfast, but after about ten minutes, the excitement died down and her voice was barely audible through all the chatter. Kim maintained her innocence throughout the entire meal, but Fred and George were, foolishly in Harry's opinion, trying to sell their new product. "Fun at parties, great at the office—"

"True Blue Clown is the product for you!"

"It will make any target as cheerful as any clown, isn't that right Fred?"

"Most definitely, George. And anyone in this room can purchase our fine product for just seven sickles!" Harry shook his head. Did they want to get caught? Hermione was sending them looks of disapproval, but before she could reprimand them, the bell rang, signaling everyone to stuff their books in the bags and hurry off to their first class.

"Harry, can I talk to you?" Ginny put her arm around his and smiled shyly. Kim frowned. They had a quiz in Defense Against the Darks this morning, and Harry promised to give her a few tips. Kim grunted in annoyance and stalked Draco down. She didn't want to say anything because ever since school started, Ginny barely talked to her and never said anything nice. She had no idea how to get back on Ginny's good side and couldn't help but feel sad about it. She always thought of Ginny as one of her best friends.

Harry took a risk and decided to take the long way to DADA for Ginny's sake. Maybe she would tell him what was bothering her all this time. "What's up, Gin?"

Ginny shook her arm out of his and grabbed his hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "I was wondering when you were finally going to stick up to Sirius."

"What do you mean?" If she was talking about the small battle at Grimmauld, Harry held nothing against Sirius for it. He was angry at first but became less agitated the more he thought about it. He couldn't expect Sirius to talk about the death of a man's wife when the poor guy was in the room. "Sirius didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh please! He should tell you why You-Know-Who is after you." Ginny rolled her eyes in disgust. "He's treating you like an infant."

Harry felt his expression darken. "While I do want to know why Voldemort is after me, I'm not going to muck up my relationship with Sirius to find out. I want him to tell me, but I'm not going to force him. It's not worth it."

"Then he's going to push you around for the rest of your life!" Ginny snapped.

"Sirius doesn't push me around," Harry said indignantly.

"Everyone who can does! Kim has you around her tiny little imp-like finger, Ron always makes you slack off, Hermione makes you feel small when she always shows off her perfect marks—"

"Funny," Harry said coldly. "Because as of now, the only one who is pushing me around and trying to make me feel small is you!" What was wrong with her? This was definitely not the girl that Harry fell in love with. It was almost like…she was trying to turn him against everyone.

"You-you-how dare you?!" Ginny didn't even realize that she slapped him until her hand was stinging from the force, and for a moment, she was back to her old self again. "Oh my god! Harry! I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean it! You're right! I've been so awful lately!" Harry only stared at her with wide eyes, covering his cheek with his hand. Ginny blinked in shock. "What's that scarring on your hand?"

Harry's eyes turned hard. "It's none of your business, Ginny." He left before he could see her eyes turn cold and emotionless again.

Unfortunately, Harry was late to class. Umbridge bounced from her seat with glee. "Seventy seven seconds late, Mr. Potter! I believe that calls for seven detentions!" Harry wanted to scream, curse, and send Umbridge a few hexes, but instead, he tried not to give her the satisfaction and sat down to wait for his quiz, knowing that he must look paler than usual and that his hands were shaking as he took his quill out to begin.

* * *

"SIRIUS!"

Sirius and Remus jolted awake be the angry voice coming from Sirius's mirror. Remus shot him a rather nasty look since it was nearly one in the morning, and Sirius smiled sheepishly as he crawled out of bed to find out what his goddaughter was screaming about. "What is now?" Sirius mumbled tiredly. "If you're in trouble again, I'll kill you."

"I need you to change my name back to what it originally was!" Kim looked up at the corner of the mirror. "Hi, Remus." Remus grumbled in annoyance and tried to block out her voice by covering his face with a pillow.

"What? You mean right now? It's almost one, and you look as tired as I feel." Sirius could see those detentions until midnight combined with OWL worthy homework and tutoring first years was starting to take its toll on her. Kim looked like she could barely keep her eyes open.

But she was still fierce enough to threaten. "I'll throw her off the Astronomy Tower! That bitch gave me a zero on my quiz because she said there isn't a Kimberly Potter in her class. There's a Kimberly Pendragon in it. And I studied really hard too!" Then she pursed her lips and looked at the ground. "Well, Draco studied really hard and told me all about it!"

It took a minute for Sirius's sleepy brain to compute what she was saying. "But you aren't allowed to leave the castle until winter."

"I'm gonna fail, Sirius!" she whined. "Save me!"

"How can I do that when you fucked everything up three weeks ago?" Remus made a noise of disapproval at his cursing. "Why can't you just write Pendragon until winter? You've been writing it for most of your life."

"But-but it's not my name!" Kim hissed. "And she's horrible to—" She covered her mouth. Harry didn't want her to say anything, but his hand looked awful, and he still had three detentions left to go. She felt so guilty about not saying anything, but she also didn't want Harry to hate her either.

"Horrible to who?" Sirius was suddenly wide awake, wondering if this was connected to the conversation that Harry tried to have with him the day after the full moon.

Kim shook her head, clearly arguing with herself. "Ha-Hermione!" Her face was suddenly rather flustered, and Sirius had a feeling that she was going to say another name that began with an H. "Umbridge always ignores her when she raises her hand, and it makes Hermione feel like Umbridge thinks she's dumb." Kim fiddled with her hair. "But I'll write it until you change my name. Until then I gotta go, bye!" she finished rather quickly, stuffing the mirror under her black socks.

Sirius resisted the urge to throw the mirror against the wall. "I'm worried about Harry," he announced as he laid back down.

"You're always worried about Harry," was the muffled reply he received.

"He's hiding something from me, Moony!" Sirius had a feeling that this was going to bother him all night.

Remus felt the Marauder in him stir despite the late hour, forcing him to throw the pillow off his head. A smile touched his lips when he joked, "Maybe he and Ginny are having sex." He chuckled when Sirius became rigid beside him.

"That is _not_ funny, Remus!" Sirius yanked at his hair. "He's too young!"

"Is that what your mother said when she saw these posters you have plastered everywhere? Didn't she catch you in the act with a Hufflepuff girl once?" Remus could only picture the look on Walburga's face.

This time Sirius hid under his pillow to hide his blush. "Oh shut up!"

* * *

Harry was currently not speaking to Ginny and was trying to avoid having Ron ask why so he pretended to be extremely intrigued with the morning paper that Hermione was reading. It was rather amusing, actually. Her eyes grew wider with each line they scanned and soon her cheeks turned an angry pink color. Harry couldn't help but laugh after Hermione started swearing. Her head shot up towards him and said, "You read it and see if this is still funny."

The smile was quickly wiped off Harry's face as he scanned the article. "So we're going to see her in every class?" Hermione stabbed at her waffles angrily with her fork, which Harry took as a yes.

Kim sat down next to him and gave Harry a look of horror when she read the headline. "What? Can you imagine Umbridge and Snape in the same room! They'll be so mean!"

"What we have to worry about is good teachers getting sacked because they're on Dumbledore side," Hermione said grimly.

* * *

Kim threw her hands up in the air when they reached Hagrid's cabin for Care of Magical Creatures. "Where's Hagrid?! You're nice and all, lady, but I need Hagrid!"

"I promise you that I will teach you what to know in order to pass the OWLs, Miss Potter," Professor Grubby-Plank told her stiffly.

"I go to school to learn, not to pass a test." Kim pouted. Last year, Hagrid said for their OWL year, they would put on boots and explore the swamps that were at the west end to the Forbidden Forest.

Daphne shook her head. "If you learn it, you can pass the test, idiot."

Draco covered Kim's mouth so he could say the censored version of what she wanted to say. "Memorizing facts is a rather superficial way to learn, Daphne."

"_Ehem_." Umbridge sent Draco an icy look and tapped her clipboard with her quill. "Class is about to begin, Mr. Malfoy. It would be polite of you to remain quiet." He flushed bright red with embarrassment. Kim grabbed his hand and smiled proudly. Draco never got in trouble. "So." Umbridge glanced at all the Slytherins except Draco. "I hear there have been injuries in this class under Professor…Hagrid, is it? I wonder where he is. Hmm…Can't even show up to the beginning of term."

Daphne snorted. She was many things, but a suck up wasn't one of them. "_She_ was the only one who was injured." She jerked her thumb at Kim. "She's a bit accident prone if you ask me."

"Oh really?" Umbridge smiled prettily. "And what did Professor Hagrid do about it?"

"He took me to the Hospital Wing," Kim snapped. "Now, if you will please stop talking, I want to learn about creatures!" Harry literally had to bit his tongue to not tell her to keep quiet. He didn't want her to have to suffer through a detention like the ones he faced.

"She is quite right." Professor Grubby-Plank nodded. "Today, we will study porlocks."

"Oh yes! A popular topic on the OWLs!" Umbridge stated approvingly. Kim narrowed her eyes. She was beginning to resent the OWLs. Why weren't her grades enough?

* * *

Harry was making up dreams for his Divination homework in the Common Room when he felt a rather hard slap in the back of the head. "Ow!" He looked up to see his assailant. "What the hell, Kim?"

"I got a T on my first Defense test!" She waved a scroll of parchment at him that had more red marks than not.

"You got a _Troll_?" Ron asked incredulously. Hermione looked impressed, but not in a good way.

Harry took the parchment from his sister. "You wrote that a disarming spell can rip someone's arm off if done properly."

"It had to be a certain length, and I didn't know what else to write!" She kicked at the back of the sofa. "Isn't that what happened to Professor Snape?"

"No," Harry said slowly with as much patience as he could muster for the person who just slapped him in the back of the head. "He was hit with the Reductor Curse." Hermione was starting at the giant red T on Kim's test as if it would jump off the page and attack her. "But I don't know why you have to hit me for it."

"Because I want you to teach me!" Kim sunk to the floor and gripped the sofa. "I need to be taught better! TEACH ME!"

A light bulb suddenly went off in Hermione's head. "That's a great idea actually."

"Really?" Kim squeaked.

"Really?" Harry raised his eyebrows. They had enough work to do already. Plus, Kim's schedule was clogged up with all her detentions, and usually when he tried to teach her, and she didn't know what she was doing, Kim would get embarrassed and tackle him to the ground.

"I think we would all benefit from it." Hermione chewed on the end of her quill and nodded. "It could be like one giant study group."

Ron groaned. "I think we have enough studying to do now!"

Hermione hit him with a pillow. "Oh, just think about it! It'll help everyone prepare for facing, You-Know-Who!"

* * *

Kim felt oddly hyper during the beginning first week of October. She thought she would be put out, since everyone was going to be at Hogsmeade this Saturday without her, but for some reason on Monday, she plotting instead of counting down the days of the most boring Saturday of her life. She had the perfect plan.

She would kill two birds with one stone, as the saying goes. Heading to an empty class room, Kim laughed to herself at her own joke, scaring some Hufflepuffs that happened to be passing by. Not only would she get to totally trash Umbridge's precious classroom, she would be able to get Slytherin to like Draco again. All she needed was a certain Slytherin on his side. "Hiya Blaise!" Kim grinned at him from ear to ear.

Blaise frowned. "How'd you forge Pansy's handwriting so perfectly?" He should've known it wasn't his girlfriend who sent him that love note. Pansy would never say that they needed to have some "lunchtime lovin'."

"Ask Fred and George," she said simply. "But that is irrelevant! I need your help!"

But Blaise's frown only deepened. He had never hung around Draco's girlfriend much, especially this year, but there was definitely something off about her today. "If it's anything that was stated in this letter, then not a chance."

Kim giggled. "No! No! No, silly!" Blaise was just about ready to leave. This girl was totally bonkers. "We're going to throw a secret midnight party!"

"_We?_" What idiot throws a party at midnight, on a Monday, during their OWL year?

"Yes, we!" She bounced slightly in place. "It'll be your apology for being such a dick to Draco!" Blaise winced and nodded reluctantly. She had him there. "Okay, what's going to happen is that you're going to tell everyone in Slytherin to party in the DADA classroom at midnight 'cause that's when my detention's over. Don't worry. I've ordered plenty of Cheetos and strawberry soda. Plus I've got some disco records from the seventies." Her voice lowered into a whisper. "Sirius liked to party…" And then she started prattling on again. "Then Draco is going to catch you guys, and you'll be all worried that you're busted since he's a prefect, but then Draco will say that it's all good and start partying with us, and everyone will be happy again!"

Blaise stared at her for what Kim felt was a really long time but in reality it was only about forty five seconds. "Does Draco even know about this stupid plan?"

Kim waved him off. "He'll know what to do." And then her face scrunched up. "And it's not stupid!"

Blaise sighed. This was a dumb idea, but he had a feeling that Kim was going to do it with or without his help. And he had a feeling that the next person she asked would be Theo. Maybe he could get back into Draco's good graces by making sure his girlfriend stayed out of trouble. "Fine."

* * *

Draco got a garbled version of Kim's little "plan" from Pansy when she passed him a note in Potions. He chose not to say anything, considering that she was literally bouncing in her seat next to him. Whenever Professor Snape would ask a question, she would frantically wave her arm in the air, which he chose to ignore. As his godfather lectured, Draco also noted how fidgety she was, crossing and uncrossing her legs like she had to go to the bathroom and using her wand to light and unlight the flame under her cauldron. "Is there a problem, Miss Potter?" The entire class turned their heads in Kim's direction. "Because you are acting like a five year old, not an OWL student."

Kim shook her head several times with a small smile on her face. "Nope, nope, nope! Today's so wonderful, Professor! We should play Potions outside!"

Severus's eye twitched when she said "play Potions". This was an OWLs class, damn it! And she was acting like they were a bunch of kids playing with their chemistry sets. He was about to reprimand her and take thirty points from Gryffindor when her small smile became a big one. Normally, that would have made Severus all the more furious, but this time, Kim's smile was followed by all the bottles shaking slightly in the classroom. There was no harm done, but Severus was too shocked to remember his anger. "Take a walk until you can contain yourself, Miss Potter."

She hopped out of her seat and said cheerfully, "Sure thing Professor! I-I'm gonna run over to Hagrid's because I need to see if he's home because he hasn't been teaching lately but I'll be back after that, unless of course he's sick and needs some soup, 'cause then I'll be a little longer, especially if he can't feed himself 'cause I'll need to—"

"Just go, Miss Potter." Severus tried to keep the concern out of his voice and sound cold as she saluted him and scurried away. He sent Draco a perplexed look, but Draco had no idea how to respond and simply shrugged, suddenly becoming aware of the several hickies she gave him this morning before breakfast.

Draco sighed as Potter and Weasley approached him during lunch later that day. "I don't know what's wrong with her, I wanted to ask you the same thing." Kim was currently singing a song about Potions with a first year Hufflepuff that she tutored on Sundays across the Great Hall. The song had something to do with the ingredients, but Draco was trying not to listen.

Potter frowned. "The last time this happened, she was terrible the next day."

"She was bringing large bottles of soda into her room at three in the morning!" Weasley huffed. "And she had a house elf bring up plastic cups and a punch bowl as she made her trips up the stairs!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Weasley. She hasn't mentioned anything to me today." Draco turned his back to his house, feeling their eyes boring into him for talking civilly to Potter and Weasley.

"Yeah, she hardly said three words to you today," Potter said darkly, making Draco wince. Whenever Kim was near him, she couldn't keep her hands off him, which would've been great if he wasn't surrounded by Potter and a bunch of Weasleys all day.

"Don't get all protective on me now, Potter!" Draco looked over to see that Kim was now dancing with a bunch of first year Hufflepuffs. "That isn't going to solve anything, especially if she's nasty tomorrow like you seem to think."

Potter threw his hands up in the air. "What do you expect me to think? That's what happened the last time she was like this."

Draco took a deep breath. "I don't know what could possibly make her act like this."

* * *

Now that he thought about it, Draco thought that it might've been a good idea to tell Potter about this little party that Kim was throwing. Yawning, he trudged over to the DADA classroom around one, after his prefect rounds with Pansy, who decided that the party was stupid and headed to bed. Draco wished he could be so lucky.

He opened the door to hear the Weird Sisters blaring and to see Daphne and Theo making out on a desk. From the empty Firewhiskey bottle in Theo's right hand, he could deduce that they were heavily intoxicated, and the Slytherin side of him really wished he had a camera. Unfortunately, the boyfriend side of him took over when he saw Kim standing on Umbridge's desk with Vince and Gregg, getting ready to dance the night away. Feeling annoyed and a teensy bit jealous, Draco slammed the door behind him, glad that someone stopped the record player, and the whole room became silent. Even Daphne and Theo stopped mid-kiss.

Draco counted to ten in his head. Kim was looking at him with a hopeful expression, and if Potter was right, and she was going to be nasty tomorrow, then he had better not do anything to tick her off. Feeling like a fool, Draco nodded at everyone in his house above third year and mumbled, "Carry on."

He was surprised to see that everyone started cheering, and the music instantly started back up. Kim threw her fists up in the air and scream, "WOOO!" and continued to dance with Vince and Gregg. That quickly ended, however, when the entire desk collapsed.

Draco ran over to find Kim under about three hundred and fifty pounds of crony. "Hey! Get off of her, you great lugs!"

Vince and Gregg quickly scrambled away, and Kim shot her fists in the air and yelled, "I'm okay!"

"No, you're not!" Draco yanked at his hair. "Just stick with me tonight, okay?"

Kim nodded eagerly and put her arms around his waist. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

They didn't get far though, because just as Draco was about to get to the door to lead her up to Gryffindor Tower, Nicolas Grimmett stepped right in front of them. Draco swore under his breath. "Is this all you think you have to do to get Drakey-Poo back to being the Slytherin Prince?" Draco glared at the ceiling. When they were briefly dating, Pansy always called him that because she knew it bothered him to no end. And of course, the moment she knew he hated it she told everyone in Slytherin.

Kim stomped her foot like an entitled brat. "Yes!" Then she smiled at him like she didn't beat him up until she was pried off his unconscious body less than a month ago.

"Well, it's not!" Grimmett gave Draco a look that said, _you sure know how to pick 'em._

Draco bit the inside of his cheek. All he wanted to do was read over his charms essay and go to bed. "Sadly enough, Nick, I don't care. I'm not going to kiss your ass, so shove off."

Grimmett sneered at them. "I don't think so." He turned to Kim. "In order for me to accept Draco again, you have to give me the password to Gryffindor Tower."

Kim frowned, deep in thought. After a moment she brightened up. "Nope!"

"Now you listen here…" Grimmett jabbed a finger at Kim for emphasis, causing Draco to feel his blood boil with anger. "If you think for one second—"

He was interrupted by Blaise clearing his throat. "Come on, Nick! Why do you have to ruin my party with fighting? Draco here is about to break your nose! Why don't you have a nice drink and find a nice girl to dance with. Tracey has been making eyes at you all night!"

Grimmett glared at Draco. "See you during Quidditch." He stormed off but soon started to saunter when he was in Tracey's line of vision.

Blaise chuckled. "You owe me one, man."

Draco was glad to see that Kim became quieter and quieter as the night went on. She stopped talking a mile a minute by two and started to look a little sleepy. Maybe, if he was lucky, the party would be over soon. Kim laid her head against the windowsill. "I felt so weird today, Draco," she said tiredly, yawning at the end of her sentence.

Draco smiled but noticed that her cheeks were a little flushed in the moonlight. "Oh really. I haven't noticed," he teased. But she acted like she didn't hear him, making his smile falter. "Are you okay?" He was about to feel her forehead when Blaise interrupted him.

Blaise was more than a little buzzed, which was why he wasn't concerned over the fact that Theo and Daphne were unconscious and Millicent was getting sick in the corner. "Hey!" He hiccupped several times. "You guys want any soda? I added a secret ingredient myself." He roared with laughter but somehow was still careful not to spill the two cups in each hand.

Draco rolled his eyes. He and Kim were the most sober people here. "Alright. Only if you leave us alone." The couple each took a cup as Blaise ran away laughing, in search of more strawberry soda.

Kim blinked at him. "I'm starting to get a headache."

Draco took a sip of his drink and felt it burn all the way down his throat. Blaise clearly added Ogden's finest. "You're probably tired. I'll walk you up to the Tower. I'm sure everyone's going to get caught soon anyway."

Sulking, Kim nodded and decided to drink her soda as she stood up, which would soon enough prove to be a big mistake. It was just like when she drank that butterbeer a month ago, only ten times worse. She could actually feel the warm blood pouring out of her ears, nose, and eyes as she started choking. She was out cold before she hit the ground.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Notice the connection between the bleeding? Hermione will next chapter, so don't worry! But that's only a piece of the puzzle. :) Please review!**


	16. Dumbledore's Articles?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Thank you to all who reviewed!**

Chapter 16

Draco, who had no idea that this sort of happened before, felt like the whole world stopped. Kim was so still on the floor, and everyone around them was so drunk that they had no idea what was going on. He felt himself yell for help instead of hearing it and soon enough realized he wasn't going to get it. Silencing wards must've been put up so no one would hear the music. Numbly, Draco found himself gently picking Kim up, feeling his heart sink when she didn't stir and her arms hung limply. She was light, but he didn't have the bulging muscles that he wished he had. He hurried off to the Hospital Wing before he could drop her, feeling his heart pounding in his ears.

* * *

Severus sipped his tea and read the paper as he waited for the mutt and the wolf. Why Albus always sent him to retrieve those animals, he would never know, but he was quickly getting impatient. He had a class to teach in an hour, and he would like some time to set up and write instructions on the board. Still, he didn't dare head up to their room, for fear of what he would walk in on.

"What are you doing here, Snivelus?" the dog barked.

"Sirius," Lupin reprimanded. "Is there going to be an Order meeting, Severus?"

Severus sneered at him. "No. But of some reason, I have to play messenger boy whenever your daughter gets herself into trouble."

Anger flashed in Black's eyes. "Did she hurt anyone? Yet again, the full moon is in less than a week and—"

"What happened, Severus?" Remus shot Sirius a look begging him to be patient. For all they knew, it was about Kim writing Potter instead of Pendragon on her tests in DADA. He had gotten a rather…interesting letter from Umbridge about Kim being the only one to get a T on her first test. Sirius had rolled his eyes and put the letter on the refrigerator.

As much as Severus wanted to get out of Grimmauld, he enjoyed making Black and Lupin squirm. "And while you two bicker away, Miss Potter is lying in a hospital bed, unconscious since about two thirty this morning." He was met with stunned silence. "It seemed that Mr. Zabini threw a party last night, and as a good number of my house was passed out drunk, Miss Potter's magical levels dropped to about one percent of what they should be. I believe she is at about ten percent, right now." They were gone before he finished his last sentence.

* * *

If Remus had his memory, he would've noted that Harry and Draco were arguing in a much similar manner to the first time Kim landed herself in the Hospital Wing. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, MALFOY! YOU KNEW SHE WAS ACTING FUNNY YESTERDAY, AND YOU LET HER THROW A PARTY WITH A BUNCH OF SLYTHERINS!"

"SHUT UP, POTTER! IT WASN'T LIKE YOU LOT TOLD ME THIS HAPPENED BEFORE!"

Sirius put two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. Harry and Draco both flinched and stopped screaming but wouldn't take their eyes off each other, looking ready to resort to physical violence. He looked at how still Kim was as Remus rushed over to her. "Care to explain?"

Draco suddenly looked at the ground. "Well…Blaise is taking the fall for the party…" He suddenly didn't want to talk about it. "She drank some soda…and there was just blood everywhere. She hasn't moved since."

"Soda?" Sirius said slowly.

"And there are no poisons in her system, Sirius." Madame Pomfrey spoke as she was heading to Kim to check her magical levels again and scared the living daylights out of everyone. "Twelve percent," she stated grimly. "I think she'll be awake by thirty."

"So this is the magic again?" Sirius gritted his teeth. It was supposed to be a fluke! Or at least, that is what he told himself whenever September second crossed his mind.

Hermione frowned. "Was it just soda?"

"For the last time, Blaise didn't poison her!" Draco felt like he wanted to scream. Blaise was his best friend, besides Vince and Gregg. Plus, how could Blaise have poisoned her the first time this happened? Especially since Kim took the drink that was supposed to be Potter's in September.

"No." Hermione shook her head. "I mean, it wasn't spiked or anything, right?"

"Blaise put Firewhiskey in it," Draco admitted. It wasn't like he was tattling on Blaise. Most of Slytherin was hung over right now. It was quite clear what everyone was doing at that party.

"So you admit that he put something in it," Ron said skeptically.

"Only Firewhiskey, Weasel," Draco growled.

Ron opened his mouth to reply, but Hermione cut him off. "That's what I thought." She drummed her fingers against a nightstand near Kim's bed. "Butterbeer has small amounts of alcohol, which caused a smaller reaction than the Firewhiskey. Firewhiskey has a much higher alcohol level. I think for some reason, her magic is reacting to the alcohol."

"That's not possible." Remus couldn't help but shake his head. Since when does alcohol cause a drop in magical levels?

Hermione sighed. For once, she didn't have information from a book to back up her theory. It was only a connection. "I know."

* * *

When Kim woke up, it was rather dark with the faint glow of a dying candle, so she figured she must not have been out too long. Sadly, even in the dark she could recognize the ceiling of the Hospital Wing and wanted to scream in frustration. Her head hurt rather badly, but she hoped that if she sat up she would be able to leave. When she finally found the strength to sit up, Kim heard a rather high pitched scream that made her wince. "God, Draco. Go through puberty already."

Maybe that was a little harsh, but she was in a rather bad mood right now. She was stuck in the Hospital Wing for what felt like the thousandth time, her head hurt like hell, and her bladder was ready to burst. In an instant, the candlelight grew stronger, and Kim saw everyone else looking sleepily at her. Her mood worsened when she realized Ginny wasn't there.

"You gave us a bit of a scare." Remus smiled at her in relief.

"Yeah, well. I have to pee," she grumbled before hopping out of bed to head to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"Hmmm…Well, Madame Pomfrey mentioned that the low magic might put her in a rather foul mood." After a few minutes in the bathroom, Kim screamed, sounding rather furious, but that only making Sirius chuckle. "But I'll take the brat instead of the comatose goddaughter any day."

* * *

Madame Pomfrey had told them that perhaps Kim was so hyper the day before because her magical levels were too high. Harry actually found this rather interesting. Was that what happened in the beginning of the school year when she performed her little "play" in front of the DADA class? If so, he had a feeling that it was going to happen again.

Kim was rather quiet the next day as Madame Promfrey tested her for every illness known to wizarding kind, and Sirius told her that she was never to drink alcohol again. She frowned but figured she'd go with it. Her magic was at around sixty percent, so she would be returning to classes the next day. Harry and Hermione hauled her tons of homework to her during dinner, making Sirius let out a low whistle. "Did we have that much homework during OWLs, Moony? Because I'm sure we didn't."

Remus grinned. "Of course we did. You just chose not to do it."

Kim looked at her homework sadly. "If I become a Squib, am I still allowed to live with you guys?"

"Why wouldn't you be?" Harry couldn't picture his life without magic because the only life he knew without magic was with the Dursleys.

She shook her head and covered her eyes. "I'm dying!" Harry couldn't tell if she was serious or not. If anything like this was happening to him, he'd be terrified. During class that day, he often worried that she was going to get sick again while he was listening to lectures. He couldn't focus, and most teachers ignored him, except Umbridge. His detention would be Sunday night.

"You aren't dying," Remus said firmly, leaving no room for argument. "And yes, you can still live with us if you become a Squib. But you're not."

Harry noticed that Sirius was suddenly rather pale, which made him feel nervous. Madame Pomfrey said people were born Squibs. That they only could become them as infants because as they got older, they became physically dependent on their magic. So did that mean that if Kim's magic disappeared completely that she would die? Sirius caught his eye and quickly looked away, as if reading his thoughts.

If Harry's face showed how he was feeling, Kim chose to ignore it and quickly brought up his spirits when she asked, "So, what's it going to take for me to get you to do my homework, classwork, and Flitwick's written test?"

Harry grinned. "You telling Hermione that house elves enjoy bondage."

"So I guess that's a no," Kim pouted. "What a way to treat someone on their deathbed."

"You aren't on your deathbed!" Remus said loudly, looking frustrated and startling Kim. She stared at him curiously. Sirius sent him a look that begged him to calm down, making Harry feel worse once again. "Ju-just don't say that. I don't like it." Kim started playing with her nails and didn't say much for the rest of the day.

* * *

Sirius felt that the roles were reversed when he had to force Remus to work at Zonko's that Saturday. He practically had to drag Moony out of the Hospital Wing Wednesday and even lectured him about worrying too much. Sirius was worried about Kim too, but this was one of the rare times he didn't want her to know it. He didn't want her to think she was going to die. It was the day before the full moon on Saturday, and Sirius would normally force Remus to stay in bed, but the werewolf insisted that he was fine and wanted to go to Hogwarts. He didn't want Remus worrying so much before the full moon, and he thought what better place to forget about your troubles than a joke shop. The elderly Zonko was more than willing to allow someone to run the shop for him on what would be undoubtedly busy day. Sirius thought it was the perfect way to get Remus's mind off of the events of earlier this week. Unfortunately, another stressor seemed to follow them in.

Remus was helping a little girl reach a bear that told jokes when the bitch walked in, so Sirius was the first to spot Umbridge. The toad's eyes were on Remus, and Sirius felt frozen on the spot. Did she make up some new law again? Was she going to arrest him? Sirius would rather die than let Remus go to Azkaban. "_Ehem._" Remus froze and turned around slowly. The little girl took one look at Umbridge and ran away to find her mother. "From what I can recall, Mr. Lupin, legally, you are not allowed to be in contact with children under the age of twelve."

Sirius felt his face become hot. "It's not like he's going to bite someone! The moon isn't even full! It's broad daylight!" he yelled. People started starting, but Sirius honestly didn't give a damn. Let them stare. Let them see the monster that the Ministry is allowing to teach their children.

Umbridge twisted her head to the side so that she was looking at Sirius but still had her body facing Remus. "It is too close to the full moon. You never know when a wolf can become…" She smiled sweetly as she paused for dramatic effect. "Feral."

Sirius walked away from the counter and yelled while waving his fist in the air, "I'll show you feral, you lying sack of shit."

"Sirius." Remus's voice cut through his anger like a sharp gust of wind. "I'll see you later," he mumbled. He was out the door before Sirius could try to say anything to make him stay.

Umbridge quickly interrupted Sirius's thoughts. "And where is Mr. Zonko, if I may ask? Does he know who he employs? Perhaps his mind is weakening in its old age."

"Perhaps." Sirius felt his mouth become a thin line. "And perhaps he wouldn't allow the likes of you in this shop."

Umbridge blinked at him. "Excuse me?"

"GET OUT!" Sirius spat. "Unless you want a box of stink pellets or dung bombs, get out before I have to escort you out." Before he could stop himself, Sirius reached into a box of dung bombs on a nearby shelf and threw one smack dab in the middle Umbridge's face.

Umbridge coughed and spluttered, trying to get the dung off her face but only smearing it in the process. The little girl that Remus was helping smiled behind her mother's leg. Her mother looked like she didn't know whether to laugh or take her daughter away from such madness immediately. Soon enough, her pink mouth quirked into a smile.

* * *

Lucky for Kim, Remus didn't hike to Hogwarts looking for her since she was currently in Draco's dorm doing things that Remus most certainly wouldn't approve of. They weren't having sex. That damned contract prevented it. But they were rather close in Draco's bed, and she was only half dressed with her shirt and underwear on. She smiled at how adorably bashful Draco looked. "Aren't you glad you decided to skip the Hogsmeade trip?"

Draco was all too aware of the fact that all he had on was a nightshirt and boxers. He shouldn't have slept in this morning, but what were the odds that Kim would willingly wake up before noon? "You could've told me you were doing this! I need to mentally prepare myself. I was dead asleep, and you scared the crap out of me! How'd you get in here, anyway?"

Kim wrapped her legs around his waist. "Pansy."

Draco rolled his eyes and hoped his face wasn't as red as he thought it was. "Of course. She would love it if I had a heart attack."

Kim's brown eyes met his gray ones. "I'm hoping that is a compliment! Because if it's not, I'll cry for at least three days. Maybe more."

Draco swung himself around until he was on top of her, and then held himself up with his hands. "It's getting harder and harder to follow that ridiculous contract that _you_ signed."

"How would you like me with blue hair?" She grinned obnoxiously.

"I don't think I'd live to see it grow in," Draco muttered. He sighed as he leaned over to lie back onto his bed. "Four years is a long time, when you think about it."

Kim snuggled close to him so she wouldn't be squished off the bed. "Unless…"

"No." There was no question about it. There was no way that he wanted Black and Lupin to know anything about their sex life. Ever. It didn't matter if the he and Kim were married. Draco would do anything to make Kim's godfathers think that they were celibate.

"Can't be that bad." Kim propped herself up with her elbow. "Can it?"

Draco's lips twitched as he seized the opportunity to tease her. "They'll start foaming at the mouth and make you become a nun."

"Not true!" But she still covered her face with her hands. "I was gathering up some courage, and you just squashed it, you fool! You're supposed to be pressuring me!"

Draco wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'll pressure you in four years, how's that sound?"

"Like I'm waiting to be released from prison."

* * *

Remus headed to the Hog's Head after leaving Zonko's. For the first time in a while, he actually wanted a drink. He figured that no one would be in the unpopular pub. He was very wrong. There were at least thirty kids of all ages thirteen and up. Remus spotted Harry in the middle of the crowd with a look on his face that told him that Harry was getting ready to speak in front of the crowd.

Harry took a deep breath. "So as Hermione explained, we want to try to prepare everyone…And I think we can agree that what I can teach you would be way better than what Umbridge thinks she's teaching you." He blushed, waiting for anyone to say that he would be a horrible teacher. Remus was rather impressed that Harry had the confidence to say that in front of so many kids.

Luna smiled dreamily. "Will we get to learn the Patronus? Theo mentioned that you were taught it." Harry noticed that Theo fidgeted guiltily and wouldn't look Luna in the eye.

Harry nodded. "And I think it's best that we learn to duel properly too. We'll start off with blocking spells and disarming spells, and then…"

"What about curses?" Ginny asked, making sure to stare Harry directly in the eye since they hadn't spoken since their fight. "We have to be able to fight back." There were several murmurs of agreement.

Harry laughed nervously. "Yeah. Of course we would. I was just saying what we'd start off with."

Ginny shook her head with a smirk. "If I was attacked, I would have to wait for the Death Eaters to make the first move because you waited until later to teach us how to harm them before they can harm us." Remus couldn't help but be surprised. The last time he saw Ginny, she wasn't too nice to Kim, but he never heard her speak so rudely to Harry, especially since he knew it took a lot of courage for Harry to speak in front of so many people he didn't know too well.

"Oi! Ginny!" Ron looked like he couldn't believe his ears either. "He can't teach everything at once! If you want to everyone to learn curses so badly, you learn them and teach everyone! Until then…" Ron paused, not really know what how to go on. Fred and George snickered.

"Until then, dearest Gin-Gin," Fred started.

"Professor Harry demands that you serve detention!" George finished as Lee Jordan started to laugh and high fived him.

Harry seemed to relax a bit. "That's Professor Potter to you, Mr. Weasley."

"So, is there a Slytherin ban on this little army?" Daphne grinned, eager for this club and wanting to kick some butt. "I can't wait to defeat Weasley over here." She jerked her finger towards Ron. "I'll knock him into next week!" Ron puffed out his chest, accepting the challenge.

Hermione gave her a small laughed. "As long as you sign the parchment and vow not to betray the 'army', then you're in. You know, I never thought I'd see the day when I would get along with Slytherins. But 'army' does have a nice ring to it."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Oh yes. We're Dumbledore's Army. Out to save the world from evil. One shitty professor at a time."

Remus decided now was the time to make his grand entrance before Ginny started an argument. "And of course, I will be more than willing to teach you on Hogsmeade weekends. That is, if Professor Potter doesn't mind."

Harry jumped in the air so high that Remus was surprised he didn't call out in shock. But when he looked over at his honorary godfather he smiled. Dean Thomas looked equally excited. "This is great! You were the best Defense teacher we ever had!"

"Too bad he can't remember it," Ginny grumbled, but everyone ignored her as they chattered excited about their favorite lessons with their professor, and younger students who never had Professor Lupin asked him what seemed like a thousand different questions.

* * *

After the meeting, Daphne sipped her butter beer uncomfortably in Three Broomsticks, trying to think of what to say to Neville. He seemed to sense that something was wrong. "What's the matter Daph?" His eyes held concern and a bit of (Daphne couldn't help but notice) fear.

Daphne wrung her hands in her lap. "It's about that party…You know the Slytherin one?"

Neville smiled anxiously. "I recall Umbridge spending an entire class whining about that desk."

"Yeah…well…I was really drunk and…" Daphne felt her cheeks burn and, to her surprise, her eyes fill with tears. "I snogged Theo," she said so quietly that she wasn't sure if Neville heard her.

Neville felt the color drain from his face. He wished she hadn't told him. It would be so much better if she hadn't told him. Then he wouldn't have to feel the hollowness in his chest or feel like a blubbering baby for the stinging in his eyes. "Do you regret it?"

Daphne blinked at him in disbelief. She expected yelling, crying, or even silence, but not that. "What?"

"Do you regret it? Kissing him, I mean." Neville bit his lip. "I know that you liked him last year."

"I-I…" Daphne didn't know what to say. She felt guilty for betraying Neville but did she wish she never kissed Theo? Kissing Theo was all she thought about last year and her heart raced just thinking about it. "I don't know."

Neville wanted to be angry, but all he felt was sadness. "Well, I don't want to make you miserable while staying with me."

Daphne's eyes widened. "I'm never miserable with you! If you made me miserable, I wouldn't be with you!"

"But if you cared about me like I care about you, you would've regretted it!" Neville clenched his fists. He liked Daphne a lot. He might even love her. He wasn't sure. But he was too heartbroken to fight for her like he wanted to. Part of him thought he was messing everything up, that he should be trying to patch things up. The other part of him thought that Daphne was better off without him.

"Are you breaking up with me?" she whispered, eyes watery.

Neville smiled at her sadly. "I don't know."

Letting out a laugh that was a bit of a sob, Daphne got out of her seat, kissing him on the cheek and whispering in his ear, "Tell me if you want to get back together." Neville nodded numbly and watched her walk away, wishing that she looked back.

* * *

Kim snatched the bulletin off the Gryffindor message board and tore it to shreds, shrieking when the pieces of paper magically fused back together and floated right back from whence they came. "Shit! Damn it! Fuck!"

Harry yawned as he shuffled down to the Common Room. "Good morning to you, too."

Kim kicked the message board, pouting when it only wobbled and didn't fall to the ground. She pointed at Umbridge's latest educational decree and whined, "I didn't even get to go to a meeting yet! And I'm the one failing miserably!"

Harry looked at the bulletin and shrugged. "We'll have them anyway."

But Kim wasn't listening. "I have a plan!"

"What?"

"Gotta go!" She raced out of the room before Harry could question her further.

Draco was waiting for Kim outside of Gryffindor Tower, ignoring the dirty looks everyone was giving him and checking his watch every few minutes. He was watching the clock strike seven thirty when Kim grabbed his arm and started running towards the staircase. "We must find Luna! It is _vital_!" Draco rolled his eyes, gasping when she picked up the pace. "Faster, you lazy butt!"

Luna was at the Ravenclaw table, eating grilled tomatoes and ham. The other Ravenclaws tended to stay away from her and most were at the other end of the table. She looked rather surprised to see them, especially since Theo had been avoiding her lately. "Hello. You two weren't at the meeting on Saturday. Did you sign the paper?" She smiled at the sight of Draco panting and grabbing his sides from running down seven flights of stairs.

"Did you see the bulletin this morning?" Luna nodded while Draco sat down to catch his breath. Kim grinned. "Well, when you're super smart like me, you come up with plans rather quickly." Draco shook his head but didn't have the energy to complain about her big headedness. "So I need to write to your dad immediately!"

* * *

Harry didn't expect Kim's plan to actually work since her recent plans were nothing short of disasters. He thought Kim's plan would involve pranking Umbridge so badly that the woman would wind up in the hospital, and Kim would be suspended again or have to serve detentions for the rest of the year. What he didn't expect was to see Kim strutting down to breakfast the next day in a tacky outfit that reminded him of Rita Skeeter and Draco trailing behind her with a camera and Luna following them with a quill and notepad.

Kim took off her rime stone glasses and peered down at Harry. "Pass around the signup sheet to become an intern." Luna reached into her pocket and took out a rather long piece of parchment. "We will meet next Saturday afternoon. Now if you'll excuse me…" She put the fake glasses back on and continued to strut towards the teachers table.

"Merlin help me," Harry heard Draco mutter as they reached Professor Umbridge.

Kim made sure she showed all her teeth when she smiled at Umbridge, just like Rita. "Hello. Would you like to be the first interviewed for Dumbledore's Articles? We will be having DA meetings every Saturday afternoon to put our work together."

"Are you asking for permission to form a club or organization, Miss Pendragon?" Umbridge giggled. "Because I'm afraid I can't give permission to a student who gets in as much trouble as yourself."

Kim shook her head and Luna smirked, writing something on her notepad. "I'm not forming a club. I'm an intern for the _Quibbler_. Students have been interns at Hogwarts for…" Her smile faltered as she struggled to remember.

"Almost two hundred years," Draco filled in. "An amendment would have to be made to Educational Decree number five in order to ban them. And everyone knows that that would take years."

"But-but those are meant for seventh year students!" Umbridge spluttered.

Luna quickly scribbled something on her parchment before looking up and saying, "But age is not specified, Professor. The _Quibbler_ is very underemployed. I blame the nifflers. They tend to bite people wearing jewelry or nice watches… Anyway, would you like to be interviewed? If not, we are going to start with an article on the importance of thanking the staircases."

Umbridge glared at her but surprisingly agreed. "Very well," she replied grimly.

* * *

Narcissa was chained to the floor in what was once Bellatrix's parlor. All the furniture was cleared away, and she had been there for hours. Her body ached, and she was so thirsty that her throat was sore, but she didn't want anyone to come for her. If they did, she knew that that was when the real torture was going to begin. Her heart started to race as the room started filling up with Death Eaters. Lucius was there, and Narcissa could see that Severus was holding him back. She sent him the smallest of smiles in thanks. He looked right through her, at the Dark Lord.

"Narcissa…" he said slowly and without emotion. She whipped around and let out a small terrified cry. "Why did you betray me in such a foolish manner?"

"I-I didn't bertray you, my lord," Narcissa whimpered desperately.

Voldemort raised a non-existent eyebrow. "Oh really? You sent your dearest Draco a new winter robes as an early Christmas present." He smiled cruelly. "And you thought I wouldn't find out."

"No. No! My lord! I just wanted him to know that we are waiting for him when he sees the error of his ways!" Narcissa's chains rattled as she started shaking.

"Oh really?" Voldemort didn't even pretend to fall for it. "I could send your boy your broken, lifeless body for Christmas…"

"Please! Please, my lord! I am begging you!" Narcissa was on her knees and brought her hands together. "I'll do anything."

Lord Voldemort looked down at Narcissa's pathetic form. "There is something you can do for me, Narcissa. But you will be no means be forgiven. You will simply be earning your freedom from this particular bondage. After this mission, I will not permit you to leave this manor." Narcissa looked up at him as she waited for him to continue, face shiny with nervous sweat. "I need you to pick someone up for me and then return her half dead."

Narcissa gulped. She should refuse. Or at least accept and run straight to Dumbledore. But she was afraid that the Dark Lord will use Legilimency and learn of her plots. "I will, my lord. I swear it."

"So you will make an Unbreakable Vow?" Voldemort laughed. "You have no choice, of course. I will kill you after a couple hours of torture if you refuse to make the vow."

Narcissa nodded eagerly, ignoring the crick in her neck. "Anything, my lord."

Voldemort grinned at the curious looks he received, showing off small pointy teeth. He knew Ginny had the locket. How she got it, he didn't know or care. There was an opportunity, and he was going to seize it. But first, he needed to strengthen their bond. "I want you to bring me Ginevra Weasley."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Hermione was right by the way. It was the alcohol that caused the bleeding. Dumbledore's Articles is a cover for the real DA, Dumbledore's Army, so everyone can meet. Please review!**


	17. Tom and Ginny

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 17

Severus suppressed a yawn as he headed down to breakfast the morning after the Death Eater meeting. The Dark Lord oblivated him and all the other Death Eaters after Narcissa was tortured, so he had no idea that the kidnapping of Ginny Weasley was planned for the next Hogsmeade trip. Lucius was no help when it came to trying to fill in the blanks. All the man wanted to do was find his wife. Severus shook his head as he unrolled _The Quibbler_, which Albus insisted that he read this morning. One looked at the first article, and he found himself muttering, "Merlin help me."

"_Dolores Umbridge: Educator or Alien Brain Washer?"_

_By Kimberly Potter, Draco Malfoy, and Luna Lovegood_

_ The Ministry thought they were keeping Hogwarts children's best interest at heart when hiring a Ministry official to fill the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. But was their choice out of this world?_

_ Dolores Umbridge has been known to not even demonstrate for her students in class. Perhaps she wants her students to remain ignorant. Perhaps she wants them to be defenseless against an alien invasion._

_ "I certainly wouldn't be prepared for an alien attack," said George Weasley, a student that will be graduating from Hogwarts this year. "And Professor Umbridge has yet to do anything to help me prepare."_

_ "That textbook is so boring that it puts me in a fog," reported Daphne Greengrass, a fifth year Slytherin student. "I can't focus on a signal word from that piece of trash."_

_ How convenient… Umbridge assigns textbook readings nearly every class. Is she putting her pupils into a trance to practice brain washing techniques on unsuspecting students? Unfortunately, only time will tell._

_ Umbridge has also placed a recent ban on clubs, teams, and organizations that she doesn't approve of. Is that too power for one person? And what is wrong with clubs, teams, and organizations? They are a way to keep students out of trouble, but Umbridge stated that troubled students should not be allowed to join clubs. She also tried to limit internships to seventh year students. Shouldn't all students be able to grow up a little and take on the responsibilities of an internship? Apparently not. Umbridge apparently wants to keep her students in the dark, unprepared for the other worldly forces that threaten our very way of life…_

Severus found himself unable to continue. Clearly, the 'alien invasion' was supposed to symbolize the Dark Lord's imminent attack, but this was too ridiculous for his taste. Sending Albus a dark look, Severus handed _The Quibbler _to Minerva and tried to eat a quick breakfast before his first class.

* * *

Harry couldn't help but roll his eyes at Kim and Draco, who were huddled in the corner discussing their interview with Professor Binns during their first DA meeting the following Saturday. It was just after lunch and everyone was crowded into what was once the Defense Against the Dark Arts room in the early 1900s. It was a large room but not nearly as large as Harry would've wanted it. "Alright…Let's push the desks against the wall and we'll get together in pairs. Does anyone have experience with stunners?"

Cedric smiled shyly and stepped forward along with Hermione and Ron. There were several murmurs at the sight of Cedric, but Harry silenced them with a dirty look. "We'll partner up with those who think they will have trouble," Hermione said as she sent a rather nasty look to Lavendar Brown, who was whispering to Parvati Patel.

Kim jumped up from where she was standing, letting papers fly everywhere that Draco scrambled to pick up. "I want to be Hermione's partner…for life!" There were several giggles around the room the made her pout. "I am comfortable enough with myself to not be embarrassed by you guys's crude behavior." She stuck her nose in the air as Draco crammed all her papers into her bag.

Harry bit his lip for a moment to keep from laughing. "Right…Well, let's pair up and begin."

Since Kim declared Hermione her life partner, Draco looked rather sour as he paired up with Ginny. Ginny g;anced at him haughtily. "I don't like you either, Malfoy," she growled. Draco raised his eyebrows but said nothing. He was just mad because he wanted to spend more time with Kim since she always had detention. If anything, Ginny had always been the nicest of all the Gryffindors he hung around. Well, not today, obviously.

Draco was surprised to find that Ginny had terrible aim. He had seen her duel when Hogwarts was invaded last school year and thought she was pretty decent. But today she seemed to always be aiming too high or too low. "Aim for the middle of the dummy, Weaselette!"

"Shut the fuck up, Malfoy!" Ginny spat. He simply rolled his eyes and walked away. "Good riddance," she muttered under her breath.

Harry, who was being the supervisor, walked over to Ginny cautiously. He took a deep breath, hoping Ginny didn't notice how terribly nervous he was. "Need some help, Gin?" Harry hastily wiped his palms on his pants so that she wouldn't notice how sweaty they were when he helped her.

Ginny whipped her head around, but her eyes softened at the sight of Harry. "Oh, yeah… Sorry. I-I… Sorry."

"Er…Okay. Apology accepted." He honestly didn't know what else to say. Where they back together? Harry wasn't sure if that was what he wanted or not. Trying not to think about it, Harry grabbed her right arm, which had her wand. "Aim a little higher than what you intend."

Ginny leaned into him and smiled coyly as she lifted her arm a bit higher. "Like this?"

Harry felt his face grow hot. "Y-Yeah. Now try to stun it." He pointed to the dummy, glad that his hand wasn't shaking.

Ginny hit the target in the middle of the dummy with ease, making Harry wonder if she was pretending to have bad aim just to get him to come over. He wasn't going to fight over it though. That would only waste more time. He smiled at her encouragingly and tried to walk away, but Ginny grabbed his arm to stop him. "Don't I get a reward?" she asked quietly. Before Harry could give an awkward reply, she kissed him fiercely. He felt himself freeze up, not sure if he should kiss her back or not. She frowned when she drew away from him. "Can we…can we talk, next Hogsmeade?" Harry nodded numbly. That will give him a few weeks to get his thoughts together. He quickly walked away to help someone else, not seeing the triumphant smirk on Ginny's face.

* * *

Harry, Kim, Ginny, and Luna were walking over to the Black Lake to fetch some algae for Ginny and Luna's Herbology assignment on Sunday afternoon. Kim joined them just for the sake of doing something and sticking her toes in the water before the temperature became totally frigid. Harry joined them in hopes of keeping Kim and Ginny from fighting, since he was considering getting back together with Ginny, depending on what she had to say next Hogsmeade trip.

Ginny peered at the foam at the shore of the beach, wondering if she could see the pink algae or if they would have to go deeper into the water. "We need to find a better place to have DA meetings. That bloody classroom is way too crowded."

Kim wiggled her toes in the sand. "Let's have them here!"

"Then Umbridge will see us, idiot!" Ginny let out a small laugh and looked at Kim like she was incapable of coming up with anything useful.

"I'm not an idiot!" Kim snapped. "I just like it out here! If you're so smart, then you tell us where to have them!"

Harry opened his mouth to try to stutter out something to keep the peace, but Luna saved the day, well sort of, by saying, "How about the Room of Requirement?"

Kim paled and looked at Harry fearfully. That was where Dumbledore said Barty Crouch Jr. was hiding last year. Would proof that he used to live there still be in the room? Ginny smirked at her discomfort. "Sounds like a great idea, Luna."

"But—"

"It's better than the Black Lake," Ginny interrupted coldly.

Harry sent Ginny an exasperated look that instantly silenced her. "Luna and I can go in first, and if there's anything left of Crouch's, we'll get rid of it." Ginny narrowed her eyes at the thought of Harry and Luna alone together, but she knew now was not the time to press her luck with Harry.

"The room will change instantly to suit the needs of whoever requires it," Luna informed them. "There will be nothing left of Crouch, unless for some strange reason you would need it."

Kim's eyes widened in delight. "So if I challenge Ron to a chess tournament, there will be a million billion chess pieces in there?!"

Luna nodded. "Of course. It is a great place to clear your mind and get rid of all the wackspurts."

* * *

Kim knew that she should say something to Madame Pomfrey the day before Halloween when she felt that familiar hype very early in the morning, but all she wanted to do was find Draco. She was ready by five in the morning but wasn't allowed out until six. She felt like a ping pong ball bouncing about in her dorm until Lavender threw a pillow at her and told her to go downstairs.

In the Common Room, she found Fred and George huddled together and talking in hushed tones even though there was no one else was in the room. "HEY GUYS!" Kim giggled. She never saw Fred and George jump in shock before. "Watcha workin' on? Can I help? Can I? Can I? You should make a candy that makes someone glow in the dark! That would be really fun! Or-or you should make pizza that makes you have an Italian accent or eggrolls that make you have a Chinese accent or—"

"Or you could be our test subject," Fred said with a 500 kilowatt smile. "What do you think of Puking Pasties? They'll get you out of class."

Kim crinkled her nose and fidgeted, wondering if Draco was still asleep. "I don't even got any food in me yet! I'll just be heaving! And I can find Draco in exactly twenty minutes so I can't!"

George rolled his eyes. "Fine! Fine!" He sighed sadly. "I guess we will never be able to open a joke shop." Fred put his face in his hands, shoulders shaking with laughter, but he hoped Kim thought he was crying.

After a minute of trying to think of something, Kim fidgeted and crossed her legs, not seeing the identical odd looks Fred and George were giving her. She really wanted to find Draco, but she really wanted Fred and George to open a joke shop. "To the kitchens my friends! And bring your pasties! Hurry up! Hurry up!"

But before they could answer, she ran up the stairs and ran back down with a crumbled paper in her hand. "Come on! Come on! Come on! We gotta hide from prefects!" Fred and George shared a perplexed look, shrugged at the same time, and followed Kim to the kitchens.

For someone who said that she had to hide from prefects, Kim was marching through the halls and humming like it wasn't so early that it was still dark outside. Fred and George wished Harry wasn't asleep. Then they could at least borrow the invisibility cloak. They ran in Parkinson halfway to the kitchens, but when Kim said they were going to poison Umbridge, she let them right through. Fred raised his eyebrows at George, who shrugged again and said nothing. What a strange morning they were having.

Once in the kitchens, Kim held up a crumpled old letter. "Fudge sent it to me two…three years ago as a welcome back sorta thing! Put the pasties on a plate!"

"But they're already on a—"

"Put them on a plate!" Kim yelled excitedly. George laughed to himself and transferred the Puking Pasties from one plate to another. "Step one complete! Now hand me a blank paper." She held out her hand expectantly.

"This better be worth it! We were going to ask Ron to be our test subject." But Fred had an idea of where this was going and quickly transfigured a napkin into small piece of parchment.

Smiling, Kim pointed her wanted at her crumpled up letter and peeled off the ink that said "From Cornelius Fudge" and placed it on the bottom of the parchment. It took her about twenty minutes to pick out each letter to eventually spell out "To Dolores" at the top, but she still clapped her hands when she was finished. "Hooray! Dobby!"

"Yes, Harry's Potter's sister?" Dobby asked after he made his way over to her.

"I need you to have these placed at Professor Umbridge's spot the moment she sits down for breakfast!" Kim bounced on the balls of her feet with delight while Dobby considered this. They were probably poisoned, and Professor Dumbledore most certainly wouldn't approve. But Dobby heard that the Umbridge lady was trying to get Dobby sacked and was trying to get the house elves' mattresses taken away.

Dobby bowed. "At your service, Harry Potter's sister." Kim squealed with delight and shook his hand so hard that Dobby felt his whole body shake. When he looked down at her hand, Dobby stiffened. "Where did you get that ring?! Dobby knows that ring!"

Kim looked at her ring and wiggled her fingers. "From Draco, of course! I need him today, but I bet he's still sleeping!"

"Isn't you the same age as Harry Potter?" Dobby looked really confused. But Mistress Narcissa made him promise not to tell anyone what that ring does, and Mistress Narcissa was always the kindest to him.

Kim looked at the ceiling, tapping her fingers on the nearby table as she did it. "He's a few hours older and says that makes him more mature, but I think he's just a poopy head!"

Her answer only made Dobby more bewildered. "But-but then why do you has that ring?"

"Because I love Draco! That's why!" Kim grinned. "Anyways, I gotta go Dobby, see you later!" She zoomed away before Dobby could question her further.

Fred and George looked at Dobby. "Wedding bells ringing anytime soon?"

"Sirius would love to hear about this, Dobby." Fred smirked while George bit his cheek to keep from laughing at the thought.

Dobby shook his head so fast that his ears flopped into his face. "Dobby promised Mistress Narcissa that he would tell no one! Dobby promised!"

* * *

Kim finally found Draco as he was making his way to Gryffindor Tower. He blinked at her in shock. He had never seen her awake this early. He brought his Transfiguration book to study while he was waiting for her to rise. He was going to ask her if she went to sleep at all last night when she silenced him with a kiss.

Even though no one was around, Draco felt himself freeze up when she started unbuttoning his shirt. "Ah! Kim! What the hell?! Someone could come out any minute!"

"Then do you want to go to your room?" Kim smiled at how cute he was. She was all for skipping all her classes and spending the day with him. She already knew she wasn't going to have Defense.

Draco looked at her like he couldn't believe his ears. "We have a quiz for McGonagall in an hour! I need you to help me study!"

Kim pouted and then fidgeted with her hands. "We'll study in your room." Draco narrowed his eyes. He had a feeling they were going to get very little studying done.

* * *

Harry and Ron were talking to Angelina about Quidditch when Umbridge started vomiting all over the place during breakfast. As he turned his back to the teacher's table in disgust, he saw Fred and George high five. Since it was Umbridge related, Harry knew that Kim was involved and hoped she didn't get caught. He hadn't seen her all morning and wondered what she was up to.

Angelina quickly interrupted his thoughts. "So as I was saying, I'm meeting with Umbridge…probably later… to get her approval for our Quidditch team, so don't do anything to put her knickers in a twist."

"I think us breathing sets her off." Ron stabbed at his French toast angrily. "She took fifty points from Gryffindor when I sneezed during a test. Sneezed! It wasn't my fault I had a cold!"

"Don't look at her, don't raise your hand, don't ask to go the bathroom, and take notes as if she were telling you how to win the House Cup. I'm sure you won't have class today, but you never know. I don't want her to change her mind if she gives us the team back." Angelina glanced at the Slytherin table. "Malfoy got kicked off his team last week."

Ron spat out his pumpkin juice on the table, making Harry cringe. First the vomit and now this. "Why?" he asked, trying not to look at the mess that his best friend was mopping up. "I thought she had to approve of the team, not the players."

"I think they just used it as an excuse to kick him out," Angelina said grimly. "Besides his closest friends, most of the Slytherins hate Malfoy. I've heard rumors that they were trying to revoke his prefect position, but Snape would have nothing of it."

Hermione frowned. "Isn't weird that he never mentioned it?"

"Well, it's not like we talk to him much, and he probably was embarrassed." Harry surprised himself by feeling bad for Malfoy. He knew what it was like to have his housemates turn on him, but at least he was still allowed to play Quidditch.

"Still, we would've heard Kim complaining about it. Or at least heard her complaining about getting detention after getting revenge." Hermione looked over to where Madame Pomfrey was leading a dry heaving Umbridge to the Hospital Wing.

* * *

Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared as she watched Miss Potter take her quiz. It was clear to her that the girl wasn't cheating. Her eyes were glued onto her paper and she was writing faster than Sirius Black could run out of class after the bell rang. But somehow, Miss Potter still managed to be annoying while answering all thirty seven questions. She wrote with her right hand and tapped her fingers on her desk with the other. Her legs were bouncing with so much energy that Minerva was surprised the girl wasn't worn out by now.

Kim jumped out of her seat to hand Professor McGonagall her quiz so quickly that she startled several students that were close by. She handed her professor her quiz with a smile and as Minerva reached out to accept it and suggest that Kim go for a walk, all the books that were displayed in her classroom flew off the shelves, hitting several students in the head. Once all the books were on the floor and several loose pages were gliding to the ground to follow them, Minerva managed to say over all the yelling Gryffindors, "Head to Al-I mean Professor Dumbledore's office immediately! Or better yet, the Hospital Wing!"

Kim shook her head. "I'll go to Professor Dumbledore's office because I hate getting checkups because potions are gross and vaccines hurt and they say I'm too skinny but I'm good the way I am and I drink lots of strawberry milk so I'm healthy and—"

"Just go, Miss Potter. The password is Lemon Lolly and will be changed within the hour," she added to the rest of the class. Kim zoomed out of the room. Minerva sighed before she went back into teacher mode. "Eyes on your own paper, Mr. Finnigan!"

Remus and Sirius were in Albus's office trying to convince Dumbledore to allow Kim to visit James and Lily's grave on Halloween when Kim raced into the room. "Remus! Remus! Remus! What are you doing here? I was taking a quiz and all these books went flyin' when I was done and Professor McGonagall told me to come here so I did and now you're here and Sirius is here too and so is Professor Dumbledore, but I sure wish Draco was here too 'cause I love him lots, but he's in class so it's just us for now!"

Sirius gaped as Kim teetered in place, waiting for someone to say something. Remus was gripping his hand so hard that Sirius thought his fingers might break, but he didn't complain. He could only stare at the wild look in her eyes and how she looked ridiculously happy even though she was sent to the headmaster's office by one of the strictest teachers in school.

"I didn't know you were still struggling with accidental magic, Kimberly," Dumbledore said, breaking the silence. "It is rather interesting that you are having problems even if you aren't under emotional distress."

"Accidental magic?" Kim gave him a funny look. "Not true! I am in perfect control!" She threw her arms out for emphasis, only disproving her claim further by causing the portrait of Phineas Black fall to the ground. Sirius smirked at his grumbling ancestor.

"Perhaps it would be best if you headed off to the Hospital Wing," Remus said quietly.

Kim spun around like a carefree ballerina. "Why would I do that? I know you think I'm dying, Remus, but I'm on top of the world right now so don't worry."

"You aren't dying," Sirius hissed before Remus could adamantly yell the same thing. "But you are going to the Hospital Wing if I have to drag you by your hair."

Folding her arms, Kim moped. "Say please, and I'll go."

Sirius had to count to three in his head before he could say it. "Please."

Madame Pomfrey's lips became a thin line when she checked Kim's magic once she got her to hold still enough. "No wonder her magic keeps crashing, right now it's at—"

"Can I go to Potions now?" Kim whined. "Draco's my lab partner!" Sirius narrowed his eyes. She was talking more about Malfoy than usual today.

The mediwitch gave her a stern look that silenced Kim but couldn't stop her restlessness. "As I was saying, her magical levels are at nearly one hundred and eighty of what they should be."

"So what do we do now?" Remus asked cautiously. Sirius froze but said nothing.

"I'm keeping her for the night." Kim groaned dramatically and covered her face with a pillow, pretending to sob. "Quiet!" Madame Pomfrey stared at Kim as if it would eventually give her the answers that were puzzling the woman since early September. "We'll see how things go tomorrow morning."

* * *

Sirius left to find Harry after dinner and watched in the stadiums while the Gryffindor team had a celebratory Quidditch practice. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Ron was an excellent keeper and wondered if Arthur was going to be able to make it to his youngest son's first match.

Harry flew to the ground with ease once practice was finished. Sirius smiled to himself. The boy was a better flier than James. "Did you get my letter?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "If it was about the squirt, we already know. We were here about Halloween tomorrow, and trying to bail her out to let her visit Lily and James. Right now she's on lockdown in the Hospital Wing. I got tired of hearing her babble about Malfoy."

Ron landed beside them and made a disgusted face. "Imagine this being the third time! I wouldn't be surprised if Malfoy himself is hiding from her now."

Harry smiled, making sure to hide his hand in his pocket. "Are we still going tomorrow? To see Mum and Dad that is." Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to go but felt like he had to. It was rather odd, listening to Sirius talk to his parents as if they were alive and well in front of them.

"I doubt Kim'll be able to go, which means Remus will probably bail on us, but if you are okay with the two of us going…?" Sirius looked at the ground shyly. "You don't have to go. I know you aren't really comfortable and…"

"No!" Harry interrupted quickly, knowing that this was important to Sirius. "It's fine."

* * *

Kim was skipping around the Hospital Wing by the time Harry stopped by to visit. "Harry! I took a bath because I thought it would make me calm down, but it didn't! Nope! Not even a little bit! Draco stopped by, but he said I need to keep my hands to myself in front of Remus, so he left, and his cheeks were so red! Remus took a headache potion, and it made him so sleepy, but he said it's too loud in here to sleep so he won't sleep at all tonight, which I think is silly because if he's tired enough he'll plop right down—"

"You missed Ron playing Quidditch today," Harry interjected. "You should've seen him…" He tried to talk to her for the rest of the night, telling her in as much detail as possible about Quidditch and the classes she missed. She stayed quiet for the most part but interrupted him often enough to get on his nerves. By ten o'clock, Harry found himself yawning and dreading the homework he still had to do. Kim was still wide awake and was trying to get him to go swimming with her. Harry wondered if Madame Pomfrey would be willing to give him a headache potion as well. When he left for the night, Sirius was trying to bore Kim quiet with the entire history of his family, dated back nearly a thousand years.

But Kim didn't settle until about one thirty in the morning. Sirius stopped talking about his great-great-great grandmother's allergy to dragons when he saw her eyes drooping. He grinned tiredly and finally headed to bed, until he saw Remus, sitting in the chair next to him, staring stoically at Kim's half asleep form. "Come on, Remus! Sleep while you still can."

"Something drives her nuts every year," was all Remus would say.

"There's nothing we can do about it," Sirius replied quietly. He didn't know what else to say and wished he never told Remus about Crouch Jr. He was worried, so worried that his nails were so short from biting them that it hurt when he picked something up and he found himself unable to focus on important things like Order meetings or letters from Dora about Andromeda. But he couldn't let Remus know that. The man was enough of a wreck already.

"She could die," Remus hissed once he was sure Kim was asleep. "And all we can do is sit here and wait for it to get worse!"

"Madame Pomfrey is looking into it. She has a younger sister who's the top healer at Saint Mungo's," Sirius whispered. "All her organs and everything are fine. We just have to figure out what's wrong with her levels."

Remus clenched his fists. "I just have a feeling that by the time we find out what it is, it will already be too late."

* * *

Sirius bit his lip the next morning as he and Harry were about to leave for Godric's Hollow. "So I guess you aren't going?"

Remus looked at him with sleepless eyes. "I'm sorry, Sirius. But she hasn't woken up yet and her fever is terrible." Kim's magic wasn't as low as last time, and she was sleeping rather than unconscious, which Madame Pomfrey took as a good sign. Harry figured Kim's magic was at thirty percent instead of ten because she didn't drink any alcohol last night.

Harry and Sirius walked around Godric's Hollow until around lunch time and decided to eat with Lily and James instead of going to the restaurant like they did last time. Harry was happy to see that Sirius mostly joked around today. The guy needed to blow off some steam. "And you would have laughed so hard at Remus's face, James! And Lily, I know you would disapprove of filling his pillow with rice pudding, but you can't beat the classics!" Harry rolled his eyes but kept quiet. He liked listening to Sirius tell stories, even if he already heard them. He was interested to hear about how Sirius would think his parents would react to certain situations.

Harry froze when he heard a rustling in a nearby bush. In a flash, he had his wand out. "What was that?"

Sirius yawned and grabbed an apple. "Just Mad-Eye and various other Order members stalking us."

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" could be heard from the bush as well as a few other people shushing Mad-Eye.

Harry lowered his wand. "Creepy."

Sirius shrugged. "I'd rather it be Mad-Eye than Bellatrix."

Grinning, Harry turned to look at his parents' grave. "Do you think they would approve of the DA?"

"Dumbledore's Articles or Dumbledore's Army?" Sirius teased. He chuckled at the slightly annoyed look Harry gave him. "Lily would worry that you would be accidently hexed by teaching, and then James would make some melodramatic speech about all the good you were doing. Then Lily would tear up and say that her little boy was growing up. At least that was what she said when you tried the big boy potty for the first time."

"Gee, thanks Sirius." But Harry was still smiling. "And would do you mean _tried_?"

Sirius roared with laughter at the memory and took a full minute to calm down before he could answer Harry's question. "It was the worst failure in Potter history, in my opinion. You completely missed the potty chair, my boy. Shit all over the floor."

"Ah, wonderful. And why would my mother be proud of that?" Harry wondered if his mum would have been one of those mothers who were proud of their kids no matter how horribly they failed.

"Because at least you tried! Someone was still quite happy in her diapers and didn't seem to want to be potty trained anytime soon. And you were so proud of yourself too! You pointed at your mess and yelled 'I potty!' Lily thought you were a genius." Sirius remembered how James started gagging when he was the one who had to _scourigfy_ it.

"That is the most disgusting story I ever heard." Harry yanked at a weed that was growing near the grave. "I'd prefer not to hear those, for future reference."

"Fine, fine, fine," Sirius said with false offense. "I suppose I will tell you about the time James challenged Lily, Alice, Marlene, and Emmeline to a Quidditch match. The Marauders versus the Damsels in Distress he called it…"

* * *

They returned to the Hospital Wing around dinner. Kim was awake, but her face was rather flushed, and Harry could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn't in the mood to be too nice today. She glared at him. "Hermione says you're in trouble because you missed a pop quiz."

Harry could only guess who decided to give a quiz out of the blue the day he happened to not be around. "How many detentions did she give me?"

Kim made a point to stare at his hand, which he hastily put in his pocket. "Stupid." And she looked back up at him like she thought he was just that. "It was ten questions. So you have ten detentions starting tomorrow night."

Harry swore while Sirius looked confused. "Wait a minute. Remus and I received permission to take him out of school today! Who's giving him detention?"

"Who do you think? The fat bitch who—"

"Can you please not talk like that?" Remus asked with strained patience. Harry had a feeling that she was talking like that all day, even though she knew Remus hated it, and Harry knew that Remus was probably the only one who was able to tolerate her for more than a few minutes at a time today. He was about to try to run away to the feast before Kim could rat him out about the detentions when Draco came in and distracted her.

Harry had to admit. It was rather funny when she was mean to someone else. Kim threw a plastic cup at Malfoy who ducked out of the way and yelped like a distressed puppy. "Why didn't you tell me that you were kicked off the Quidditch team, you dick?!"

Malfoy blinked in surprise and decided that he was going to act like she wasn't being a total bitch today. "Oh sorry, I forgot." He didn't sound sorry in the slightest.

"Don't play dumb with me!" she yelled angrily.

"I wasn't playing." Draco's mouth twitched at her effort not to laugh. She tried covering her smile with her mouth and narrowed her eyes at him to show that she was glaring at him.

"I'm still mad at you," she informed him stubbornly and stayed mad at him for the rest of the day.

* * *

Remus was teaching the DA the _Patronus_ in the Hog's Head, so Harry was given the opportunity to slip away to Three Broomsticks with Ginny. Sirius was working in Zonko's, which meant he was currently being harassed by screaming five year olds and Fred and George. They walked to the pub in silence. Harry didn't really know what to say to Ginny, and Ginny was perfecting her speech to win him back in her head. Ginny didn't say a word until her butter beer and Harry's soda were placed on the table.

"I'm sorry," Ginny started off with, trying to sound as somber as possible. "I guess I just got so worked up because I was afraid of being left behind."

Harry frowned. He didn't understand how she would be left behind or what that had to do with her trying to separate him from everyone. "Why would you be left behind?"

"Because I've always been the youngest," she whined. "You're starting your OWLs this year and that only reminded me that in less than three years, you'll be gone and I'll be stuck at school for another year. You'll be off fighting the Dark Lord, and since I'm the baby of the family, everyone will think I'm too young to fight by your side."

"I would never leave—" Harry brought his brows together in confusion. "Did you just say the Dark Lord?"

Ginny's eyes became wide, but before she could make up and excuse, the most peculiar thing happened. The entire pub shook so hard that Harry fell out of his seat, and when he looked up, the ceiling was in the process of being torn off, revealing what must've been at least twenty Death Eaters riding brooms and holding the roof up with their wands. The only one who didn't have her wand out had long blonde hair. She wore a mask so Harry wasn't exactly sure who she was. But she was familiar.

The woman quickly swerved downward, toward Ginny, but Harry sprang into action, knocking Ginny to the ground. He felt her flail under him but thought nothing of it. People were immediately screaming and running around, jumping out the windows and pushing each other to get through the door.

Harry jumped off of Ginny and took his wand out. "Ginny! Run! I'll hold her off."

Ginny pushed herself up slowly, weighing her options. Tom had told her in a dream that he was coming for her. Was this his way of retrieving her? But Harry would expect her to leave or at least stay and try to fight with him. She was about to run and see if the woman would chase after her when a light bulb when off in her head. "I can't stand! I twisted my ankle!" She tried her best to sound panicked.

Harry spun around to help her up and was immediately stunned with a flash of red light. He fell to the floor with a thud. Ginny stood up instantly and smiled at the woman. "Are you going to take me to Tom?"

If she was going to answer, the woman was smart enough not to as Sirius burst into the room. "FREEZE! Aurors will be here at any moment!" He had his wand pointed at her head and was trying to turn Harry over with his foot.

But the woman was fast, and quickly had her wand pointed at Ginny's throat. Sirius lowered his wand as they slowly walked towards her discarded broom. Sirius felt helpless as they climbed onto her broom and gradually started to rise.

They were about to speed away when there was a sudden gust of wind. The Death Eater mask was swept off of her face for all to see. Sirius would have stunned Narcissa, but he had to levitate Harry out of the building so they could evacuate as soon as possible. A few seconds after they got out, so did Narcissa. The Death Eaters dropped the roof, and Three Broomsticks collapsed in on itself. Sirius held Harry close to him to try to shield him from any flying debris and couldn't stop coughing from all the dust.

* * *

In a matter of two hours, a shivering Ginny Weasley safely arrived at Lestrange Manor. Bellatrix, who faithfully helped with the delivery of the sniveling brat, eyed her suspiciously. What could the Dark Lord want with that _child_? Harry Potter was right in front of them! The Boy Who Lived could've been dead by the end of the night if they hadn't had to complete this seemingly absurd mission.

Bellatrix grabbed the brat roughly by the arm, ignoring her indignant yell, and led her to the Dark Lord's chambers. She felt jealousy course through her. _She_ had never been admitted to the Dark Lord's bedroom. She had never even seen a glimpse of it. And now she had to escort this child to the Dark Lord's bedroom, the room she fantasied about spending time in since the late seventies.

Putting an excited smile on her face like a loyal puppy, Bellatrix knocked on the large wooden doors, not too soft, but not too loud. "Miss Weasley awaits you, my lord!" The door was opened in an instant, Ginny was yanked inside, and the door was slammed in Bellatrix's face. Trying not to scream, Bellatrix clenched her fists so hard that her nails cut the skin of her palms and stomped away.

Ginny felt her heart melt at the sight of Voldemort. She didn't see the disgusting snake-like creature he had become. She only saw the handsome man that one lived in her diary and now lived in the locket that she wore near her heart. "Tom! It's really you!" she breathed out.

"In the flesh," Tom said with a charming smile. He walked over to Ginny and tucked some loose hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry for the mess that was made. I desperately wanted to see you."

"Who cares about that pub?" Ginny left out a small, quiet laugh, and feeling rather brave, grabbed his hand. "I'd destroy a thousand buildings for you."

Excitement flashed in Tom's eyes. He fingered the chain of her necklace lovingly. "I want you to be connected to me forever, Ginny," he whispered softly in her ear. She shivered but not from the cold this time. "How does that sound?"

"Like a dream." Tom was so close to her that Ginny wondered if he could hear her heart beating. She felt a buzz of pleasure when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Tom turned so his face was only a few centimeters away from her own. "Then I'll make your dream come true." Without another word, he led her to his bed.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Yes, they did have sex. No, Ginny will NOT get pregnant…Anyway, I felt that Luna would know about the Room of Requirement because she is the type of person that sees things that no one else sees, so I thought it would be fitting for her to know about a room that hardly anyone knows about. Please review!**


	18. A Bad Day to be Ginny and Harry

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 18

Harry woke up to hear the most terrible sound. There was such anguish in the noise that for a moment, Harry thought he was captured and was listening to someone being tortured. But when Sirius slipped his glasses on, he saw that he was on a red and gold couch in Dumbledore's office, and the sound he heard was Mr. Weasley sobbing. Mrs. Weasley was silently crying next to him, tears continuously streaming down her face. Harry blinked in surprise until the memories started rushing back to him. He was in Three Broomsticks, with Ginny, and then they were attacked…

Sirius sat next to him and wrapped his arms around Harry's shoulders. "I don't know why, but Narcissa kidnapped Ginny," he whispered so the Weasleys couldn't hear him explain what happened to their daughter. "We have no leads. And of course, no way to contact Narcissa or Lucius. Apparently they come to Dumbledore when they can."

Harry glanced cautiously at the Weasleys. Should he say it? He was afraid the Weasleys would lash out at him, but right now, it was all they had. "It was the strangest thing…" Harry looked at the ground when all eyes were suddenly on him, and Mr. Weasley quieted down. "We were talking…before, well you know…And instead of calling Voldemort You-Know-Who like she normally does, she…" Harry gulped. Here goes nothing… "She called him the Dark Lord."

He was met with silence that stretched on for what felt like an eternity. Finally, Ron spoke up, and he didn't look too happy. "So what you're saying, is that you think _my _sister, _your_ girlfriend, is a bloody Death Eater?"

"Ron," Mrs. Weasley warned. She wasn't in the mood for any fighting today.

"No! Mum! Who knows what could be happening to Ginny right now, and he's accusing her—"

"Listen to your mother," Mr. Weasley snapped. Harry starred. He had never heard Mr. Weasley raise his voice before. "Harry is stating a fact. That is all. And we could use any information that we can get…"

* * *

When Ginny woke up the next morning, she expected to find herself dozing in Tom's arms, not chained to the wall in a dark, dank dungeon. Panicking, Ginny yanked at the chains, hoping they were old and rusty enough to fall apart from her efforts. She started crying but froze when she heard a hysterical laugh.

"Aw!" Bellatrix cooed. "Does the wittle baby wanna go home yet?" She walked gracefully down the stone stairs as the door slammed shut behind her.

"Wha-What are you doing to me?! Tom will—"

Bellatrix silenced her with a slap in the face. "He is called the Dark Lord! _Crucio!_"

The pain made Ginny feel like her blood was hardening and becoming hot shards of coal. She screamed so loud that she was sure Tom would hear her and rescue her from this vile excuse for a woman, but he didn't respond to her pleas, which only made Bellatrix laugh until tears streamed down her pale face. Ginny grew quiet once her throat started hurt.

Bellatrix smiled at her and took a long, thin knife from her pocket. "The Dark Lord says that those Mudblood loving fools would be suspicious if you returned without a scratch on your pretty face." She chuckled and then told the lie that the Dark Lord told her to tell the brat. "He wanted me to sedate you, so you won't feel a thing. But our Potions Master is teaching the kiddies at Hogwarts." She sighed sadly. "Oh well. Would you like me to write 'WHORE' on your left arm or your right?" Bellatrix fingered her knife lovingly.

Ginny refused to answer and tried to remain silent as Bellatrix yanked out her right arm and started writing with the knife. She kept quiet until Bellatrix took her left arm and started writing 'PATHETIC'. Once she started writing the 'P', Ginny couldn't stop sobbing.

Once she was finished, Bellatrix started dancing around the dungeon. "Lalalala! What shall I do next? Hmmm…Perhaps I should break her arms and her legs? Maybe later…" Ginny gulped. She was in for a long day.

* * *

Kim felt guilty for spending so much time with Draco on Sunday after Ginny was kidnapped, but she knew he wouldn't feel comfortable being around the Weasleys right now. Ron looked positively enraged at the sight of him at breakfast that morning, and Kim didn't want him to feel like everyone hated him. Draco said nothing about what his mother did yesterday, so Kim didn't bring it up. Instead, they helped Vince and Gregg with their Charms homework, which a lot like trying to work miracles, and played an intense game of chess with Pansy and Blaise.

After lunch, she and Draco went for a walk outside near Hagrid's hut. The cool breeze shook the leaves on the trees and made Kim's dark red hair whip around her face. Draco chuckled as she flailed and cursed like a sailor. He was about to tell her she needed another haircut when his mother appeared before his eyes, taking off an invisibility cloak and sprinting towards him. Once she reached them, the wind stopped, and all was silent.

Kim didn't know whether she should scream for help, run for help, or not do anything at all. She sighed at the pleading look Draco gave her. "I guess I'll go over there…" She jerked her thumb towards the trees that were slowly starting to lose their leaves. Narcissa's eyes widened at her suggestion, but she said nothing so Kim slowly walked over to the trees, wishing Hagrid was at least home to make her some tea.

Draco didn't know what to say to him mum, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "Where's Ginny Weasley? How could you do this? Why—?"

Narcissa gripped Draco by his shoulders tightly. "I need you to listen to me Draco, I didn't have a choice, you understand? It was either that or die. I don't know what he was planning, but Ginny Weasley went to the Dark Lord willingly."

"But mum!"

"I love you! Remember that Draco! I love you!" She hugged him fiercely and kissed him on the cheek before he could say anything else. Draco tried to tell his mother that he loved her too, but she was sprinting away before he could say one word.

Even though Narcissa put her invisibility cloak back on, Draco still wanted to chase after her, but Kim's screams of terror were quiet distracting. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Somebody help! GINNY! OH MY GOD!"

Being haunted by his mother's words, Draco's first thought was that Ginny was attacking his girlfriend, and he found himself running blindly into the Forbidden Forest. Kim wouldn't stop screaming, and as Draco drew closer he could tell she was sobbing too. He tried to run faster but instantly slipped on a tree branch. He fell to the ground and hissed in pain as he felt the skin on his knees rip. Yelling in frustration and pain, he quickly jumped back up and started running until he saw Kim screaming at something on the ground.

Once he reached the scene, Draco covered his mouth to keep from vomiting. It was Ginny alright, and Draco was surprised that she was still breathing. Her arms were a bloody mess and were twisted at odd angels. Her legs were also clearly broken and had several bruises on them, as if her shins were hit with a beater bat. But it was her eyes that horrified Draco the most. Her left eye was swollen shut and looked like a large charcoal colored baseball while her right eye was hanging out of his socket.

Kim was shaking like a leaf. "What do we do?! Oh my God! Where's Hagrid?"

"We're going to go get help," Draco said breathlessly.

Kim's eyes popped out of her head at the thought. "We can't leave her like this! We-Oh God! What if-what if she dies? What if…"

Draco grabbed her and shook her slightly. "She's going to die if you keep this up! Here's what I want you to do. I want you to change into a lion." Kim opened her mouth to scream that she couldn't. "Quiet! I know McGonagall has been helping you during those detentions. I want you to change and run as fast as you can to the dungeons. It's the closest. Professor Snape will know what to do."

Kim nodded, wiping her sleeve over her tear stained cheeks. Draco winced and looked away when she started screaming in pain. In less than a minute, Kim was off, leaving Draco helpless and alone.

Severus was grading papers when a lion knocked down his door and roared in pain. Once his heart rate slowed, the Potions master yelled, "This better be an emergency Potter!" He rolled his eyes at the panicked screams of Kim becoming human again. "And you better not be naked."

Kim didn't bother fully transforming and left her body from the neck down covered in fur, which Severus was thankful for. "Ginny…in the Forest…" she gasped out. "Really hurt…" Severus was out the door before he could see that Kim stole one of his robes to use until she could find the strength to go back to Gryffindor Tower.

Draco found Kim huddled in the corner of Severus's office an hour later. He sat down next to her. "She's been rushed to St. Mungo's. Lupin asked me to take you to the Tower to rest." Kim shook her head, pulling Severus's black robes closer to her. "So you think you're up for the floo trip?"

Kim bit her lip. "I don't think I'll be able to sleep, but…"

Draco smiled at her sadly. "If we fall asleep in the same bed, you'll break that stupid contract."

"Then you better start drinking coffee." Kim tried to smile back at him but burst into tears. Fighting the urge to cry with her, Draco pulled her into a hug, and they stayed like that until a very grumpy Severus Snape ordered them out of his office.

* * *

Harry felt like his mouth was full of sand, and his throat constricted every time he tried to drink water. They were waiting outside Ginny's room at St. Mungo's, and though he didn't see Ginny, he heard about her injuries and wondered if she was going to make through the night. Mr. Weasley ran into his daughter's room the moment he arrived, and Harry heard him retching as his wife put on a brave face and followed him in. That was hours ago.

Finally, around seven that night, a healer arrived to give them an update, but Harry could tell by the look that he was giving him that the healer believed everything the papers said about him. He nodded politely too them all. "My name is Healer Ashburn. Miss Weasley is recovering. We were able to save her eye, but she may need glasses in the future." Everyone seemed to relax slightly, and Harry let out the breath that he didn't know he was holding. Ashburn's light brown eyes focused on Harry's. "But I have a few questions."

Harry felt Sirius tense up next to him. "And what would they be?" Sirius said, trying to keep his temper in check.

The healer ignored him and asked Harry, "Are you and Miss Weasley sexually active?"

Harry felt his eyebrows shoot up and his face turn red. What a question to ask in front of the Weasley brothers. "N-no. Why?"

"Then you wouldn't mind giving a DNA sample?" Ashburn pressed on.

Harry opened his mouth to agree, but Sirius beat him to it. "_I_ mind. And since he is underage, you can't take any part of him without my permission. Any sample you take could be used to track him."

Feeling his heart skip a beat, Harry looked over at Ron and Fred and George. At least they didn't look suspicious like the healer did. They just looked confused as to why Harry would need to be tested. After a moment, Ron's face turned so dark a red, it almost looked purple. "Ginny was raped?"

Ashburn stiffened, realizing that he wasn't supposed to allow that information to get out. Sighing, all he would say was, "There is evidence of recent sexual intercourse."

Remus glared at the man, grabbing Sirius's hand so he wouldn't jump out of his seat and start yelling. Giving Sirius a look that told him to calm down, Remus said quickly, "Harry was at Hogwarts from the time that Ginny went missing to the time that she was found. You have no reason to accuse him of such a crime."

The healer's nostrils flared, but he held his tongue. "Very well. Only close relatives are allowed to visit her for now. But I have one more question."

"Oh please go on." Sirius's tone was so acidic that Harry winced.

But again, Ashburn acted like he didn't hear him. "There's a rather peculiar marking on Miss Weasley's chest and a bit around the back of her neck. It is the color of a burn, but isn't responding to any salves. It is shaped like a necklace. Where the pendant is, there is a snake like shape where her skin is unaffected. Do you have any idea about it?" Again, his eyes were on Harry.

"And why would he?" Sirius barked. "I think I would like to speak to your supervisor, Ashburn, because you have a lot of nerve talking to my godson like that."

"We found it, in your brother's room," Ron mumbled quietly. Harry sent Ron a thankful look. If Harry would have to tell them about the locket they found in Regulus's room, he felt that would have made him look suspicious again. "B-But we tested it for curses like Sirius taught us," Ron went on, stuttering a bit at the incredulous look Sirius gave him. "And Ginny liked it, so she didn't see any harm in keeping in."

The healer scribbled something on his clipboard and then looked back up at Harry. "Only family can visit, so I suggest you return to school." Harry clenched his fists and said nothing.

But Harry wasn't too pleased when he, Remus, and Sirius flooed to Dumbledore's office. "Why didn't you let them test me?! Now everyone will think I…" Harry couldn't even bring himself to say it. The healer didn't seem to think too kindly of him, and he was sure that the Ministry wouldn't punish Ashburn if he leaked the story to the papers. Soon he'd not only be considered a lunatic but a rapist as well.

Sirius was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out how to diffuse the situation. "When Ginny's conscious, she'll say who did it."

Harry rolled his eyes in disgust. "Like that will change _their _minds. Once they decide I did it, people won't even want to be near me in the halls."

"St. Mungo's isn't the most secure of places," Remus added to Sirius's case. "There can't really be strong wards in case there's an emergency and someone needs to apparate into the building. It wouldn't be very hard for someone to steal any sample they have of you. Tracking spells are complicated, but not impossible. Two years from now, the Ministry won't be able to Trace you, and we'd like to keep it that way."

Harry took a deep breath, trying not to show that he was fuming. "I would never to force Ginny…" Again he couldn't continue. "I don't understand why anyone would…" Without another word, he stormed out of the room.

Sirius made to follow him, but Remus placed a hand on his shoulder. "Give him some time, Sirius. The situation is unfair, and he has every right to be angry." His mouth quirked into a smile. "And if he's anything like Lily, you following him will indefinitely lead to you losing a few teeth."

* * *

Harry made it all the way to Gryffindor Tower before he realized he had detention with Umbridge. Swearing rather loudly, he stomped down to the woman's office, slamming the door behind him. Umbridge gave him a toothy smile and looked at the clock. "You're twenty minutes late, Mr. Potter. I think you are going to have to stay an extra twenty minutes after everything _sets in_."

Narrowing his eyes, Harry roughly pulled the chair out of the desk and waited for her to hand over the parchment and that damned quill. He wasn't in the mood for her shit tonight, but he didn't want to deal with having an extra detention as well. He had Quidditch to practice for and was up to his ears in homework right now. Not to mention that he wanted to visit Ginny at the hospital, when he was _allowed_. He hoped the healer's opinion of what had happened to her didn't leak out tomorrow. He didn't want anyone to stop him from visiting her because even though Ginny has been acting strange lately, Harry wouldn't hesitate to say that he still loved her. But now he didn't think he could be with her. She would probably flinch at his and any other guy's touch right now. He wouldn't dare put her through that.

Harry wrote in silence for a while, even though his writing was barely legible because of the pain, and he could feel himself sweating. Half way through the detention, he felt like his heart was about to beat its way out of his chest. All he wanted to do was take a hot shower to numb his hand and try to sleep some of the pain away. He hadn't wanted to cry from pain since he was eight, and Uncle Vernon beat him with a belt. Now that he was trying to blink tears away, he felt like that small and weak little eight year old. But instead of wanting to run away from home, Harry desperately wanted to talk to Sirius about it. For some reason, every time he picked up the mirror to try to tell him about it, something inside him refused. Like when he was in primary school and the teachers gave him questioning looks. All he had to do was say something. Just say a few words, and it would all be over.

Once the clock struck twenty minutes after eight, he rose and slammed the door behind him, not even waiting for Umbridge to allow him to leave. He refused to go back to Gryffindor Tower at first. He was sure that Sirius and Remus were there, asking about Kim since Hermione promised to help her to bed once she returned to the Tower. Little did he know, they were currently dragging his sister's sleepy form out of the dungeons and giving her a lecture that was long enough for him to sneak to bed.

Harry didn't make to bed until midnight, and after trying to head up to the girl's dorm and sliding down the now flat stairs, he discovered that he would have to wait until morning to get some salve for his hand. Trying to ignore the fact that his hand was swelling and the scarf that he wrapping around it was soaked in blood, he tried to doze off, turning his back to Neville, who looked at him as if he was about to drop dead any minute.

* * *

The next morning, Harry opened his eyes to realize that he not only slept through breakfast, but Defense was already half over. His heart sunk, and he decided to avoid the class all together. He knew he was going to be in trouble, but he didn't want to deal with it until his detention tonight. All the stress from yesterday and the fact that he was tossing and turning until around two must've been the reason he slept in.

To his dismay, today was the day that Umbridge was observing Snape's class, so when he walking in, she was watching his every move with a smile on her face. Thankfully, the bell rang the moment he walked in the door so she didn't have the chance to talk to him about his punishment. Unfortunately, because of Ron's absence, the lab groups were moved around. Since he was the last one, he was stuck with Neville, Hermione was paired with her life partner Kim, and Draco was partnered with Daphne, making Kim too grumpy to give him a funny look over his hand, which was rather red and wrapped up with some leftover bandages that he found under his bed.

They were making a potion that was supposed to improve memory, and Harry was proud to say that his potion was green, almost like the bright green it was supposed to be. He had no idea how to help Neville though, whose potion was a nasty dark brown color. Meanwhile, Umbridge was questioning Snape, trying to get him to snap at her, but he honestly looked rather bored by her presence.

"So how long have you been teaching, at Hogwarts?" she asked cheerfully.

Severus paused as he held the dung beetle legs he was about to add to his potion. "Fourteen years."

"That is a rather long time—"

"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST NEVILLE!"

The entire room became silent, but Harry was in too much pain to care. Neville spilled his scalding hot, toxic excuse for a potion all over his injured hand. He was hissing in pain and felt like if he tried to move his hand, he wouldn't be able too.

"Mr. Potter!" Severus said sharply. "Get out of my class and clean yourself up! You will complete your potion after your detention tonight… Sit down, Miss Potter!" Kim slowly sunk back into her seat, eyes wide.

Harry was getting ready to leave, but Umbridge had object. "I have detention with Mr. Potter tonight." Harry felt his chest clench with anxiety. He'd take detention with Snape over Umbridge any day.

Snape narrowed his eyes at Dolores. She may think she's hot shit with the Ministry, but he ranked above her among the Death Eaters. "I'm sure you can rearrange another date with Mr. Potter," he said coldly. "Believe or not, I am busy with the responsibilities that come with being a professor and only have time for the big headed brat tonight."

Umbridge stiffened. Severus was suggesting that she wasn't a real teacher and had all the time in the world. "I will find it difficult to find another time myself."

Severus almost laughed. He thought she was so pathetic that it was comical. Time to put her in her place. "Seniority overrules, I'm afraid," he said nonchalantly, letting his fingers glide over a paperweight on his desk that had a snake on it that vaguely resembled Nagini.

Umbridge paled. If Severus asked the Dark Lord to torture her over something this trivial, their master certainly would. Antonin wouldn't be able to save her then. "Very well," she said stiffly. "Perhaps I will be able to find time for Mr. Potter next week."

Severus sneered at her. "Oh, I'm sure you will." For the first time ever, Kim found herself proud of Professor Snape.

* * *

Harry sighed as he headed over to the dungeons. Kim gave him a salve for his hand, but for some reason, it didn't help as well as it usually did. She threatened to tell Sirius while Hermione was in their room studying, and he got into a small argument with her that had him snapping at her and her screaming at him and saying to she was going to run away and never talk to him again. He had rolled his eyes, knowing exactly where she was running away to and that she would be talking to him by tomorrow morning. Harry felt guilty about being so defensive about his detentions, but he also felt trapped. He was afraid that Sirius would be angry for not knowing about this sooner.

He stood in the dungeon, watching Snape summon a bunch of ancient looking cauldrons. "You will clean these first, Potter. Then you will finish your potion. I put a Stasis Charm on it, so you will resume where you left off." Harry nodded, figuring the less he said, the better.

The more he scrubbed, the more pain became unbearable. He felt himself sway once and a while and saw Snape stare at him curiously. After about twenty minutes, he felt a little feverish and the bandage was becoming damp with puss. "Potter! What is the matter with you?"

That was the last thing Harry heard before he passed out.

**A/N: Poor Harry! Thanks for reading! Narcissa's invisibility cloak isn't like Harry's, but a temporary one like the ones mentioned in the books. Please review!**


	19. New Arrivals

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 19

Harry was surprised to wake up to find that his hand was no longer in unbearable pain, but he didn't push his luck by trying to move it. It was a dull ache now, and he thought he could drift back to sleep if it wasn't for Sirius's harsh whispers and how tightly he was gripping his other hand. "I don't care what that greasy git says, Albus. He had detention with him and now his hand looks butchered!"

"Harry was in detention with Severus for cursing, Sirius, not telling lies," Dumbledore said softly. "I haven't been informed of him having detention with any other teachers recently, so I have to ask other students. But as far as I know, it may not have even been a professor." Harry winced. All Dumbledore had to do was ask any Gryffindor, and they would tell him that he had detention with Umbridge more often than not lately.

Remus noticed his movement in an instant. "Harry?" Harry opened his eyes to see the blurry figures around him. Sirius had his glasses on before he could say Quidditch.

Harry felt his heart beating against his ribs while waiting for Sirius to bombard him with questions, but all he did was look at him sadly. Finally, Sirius mumbled, "You almost lost your hand, Harry." Harry looked down at his right hand to see it encased in bandages, but he said nothing.

Remus was the first to ask a question, and Harry was glad he didn't rush things by asking who forced him to write with the blood quill. "How long has this been going on?"

But still, Harry felt reluctant to answer him. He was afraid Sirius would think that he didn't trust him, and it wasn't that. It was just…that he was ashamed. Ashamed that he could let this happen to him. That he couldn't summon the courage to ask for help. "Since September." His voice was barely audible.

Sirius drew in a sharp breath, but Remus put a hand on his to keep him from yelling. "Where you afraid of getting in trouble?" Remus asked gently. Harry shook his head, cheeks burning. "Because you have nothing to be embarrassed about. You did nothing wrong."

Harry looked at Sirius, feeling a bit shaken as he saw his godfather slowly putting the pieces together. He had tried to talk to Sirius about it the day after the full moon when Remus had the flu. When Kim got in trouble during their first Defense class, Harry had written to him saying he had detention with Umbridge. Whenever Sirius came up to Harry, the first thing he did was put his hand in his pocket… Sirius's face suddenly became blank.

Remus frowned at Sirius's sudden change of demeanor. "Sirius—"

"I'll kill her." Sirius rose from his seat, shaking off Remus in his attempt to keep him still. "I want that bitch in Azkaban. I don't care if I have to throw her in myself!"

Dumbledore stood up next to him. "Care to explain?"

"Care to explain?" Sirius laughed without humor. "CARE TO EXPLAIN? UMBRIDGE HAS BEEN TORTURING MY GODSON WHILE WE HAVE BEEN SITTING AROUND WITH OUR HEAD IN THE CLOUDS THINKING THAT IT IS PERFECTLY OKAY TO LET A DEATH EATER TEACH IN THIS SCHOOL!"

"Si-Sirius?" Harry felt his voice shake. "Don't do anything stupid. Please."

Sirius was about to reply when Kim kicked open the doors with the Marauders' Map in her hand. "I just finished detention, and Ron is looking everywhere for you!" She walked over to his bed, kneeled down, and put her chin on the bed next to Harry's shoulder. "So you finally told them?" Harry grimaced. That was the worst thing she could have possibly said.

Sirius frowned with incomprehension while Remus took a deep breath, giving Kim a look that told her she better run. After a moment, Sirius's eyes went wide and he pointed at her. "You…you knew? You _knew_ about this?"

Kim hopped up and said fearfully (realizing that Harry may not have told them that she was making him salves), "I-I thought…I mean…Harry made me promise not to tell and…" She took a step back when Sirius took a step towards her. "I didn't want him to hate me!" she added desperately, eyes darting to Sirius's hands, making sure they didn't hold a wand or weren't clenched into fists.

"I don't care if he has a wand pointed at your throat!" Sirius snapped, making her flinch. "If someone is hurting him, you don't just sit there and let it keep happening!"

"But-but he told me not…" Kim's face was rather pink and her eyes were shiny with the effort not to cry. "I-I didn't know what to do…"

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean you didn't know what to do? I gave you a _fucking_ mirror! You could have said anything at any time —"

"Leave her alone." Harry gritted his teeth. He wished Sirius would just be quiet. "I told her not to, and she's been making me salves that were working until Neville spilled his potion on me!" Sirius clamped his mouth shut, and Kim looked away from him, telling Harry that it was going to be a while before they started talking to each other again.

She would only look at Harry when she muttered, "I-I have to go. I'll see you later. I'm-I'm tired." Kim gripped the edge of his bed for a few seconds before scurrying away.

"That was harsh," Remus stated once the door was shut firmly behind her, trying his best to keep his temper in check. "And also I wouldn't be surprised if she makes a detour for the dungeons tonight," he added, hoping to make Sirius feel guilty and run after her to apologize.

Sirius glared at him. "She should've told me."

"I should've told you!" Harry wished he could use his right hand. Then it would easier to rub away the tears in his eyes that were soon sliding down his cheeks. He felt like a fool for starting to cry. "I freaked out and panicked and didn't want to cause problems!"

Surprisingly, that managed to cool Sirius down. "You never cause problems Harry. I wish you didn't think that."

Harry looked away, silently taking the tissue that Remus handed him and rubbing it on his eyes quickly before anymore tears managed to escape. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Well tough." Sirius gave him a sad smile, not _really_ wanting to push his godson. "I think now is the time we had the talk about how it is occasionally acceptable to hit a woman." Remus whipped his head around and gave Sirius a look of a mixture of shock and horror. Harry let out a watery laugh. Dumbledore chuckled and slowly slipped away to find an acceptable lawyer.

"I hope that was comic relief," Remus said with exasperation as he tiredly sat on the bed across form Harry. "Because I don't think I can handle any more violence this week."

Sirius shrugged. "There's always next week."

"So what's going to happen now?" Harry asked bravely. He hoped life would go back to normal soon, but from the way Sirius's face fell, he could tell that it would be a while before things settled down.

"Um…" Sirius looked at Remus and then back at Harry. "You're going to have to take a break from Quidditch this year…" Harry felt his heart sink with disappointment. He supposed it was better than losing his hand, and he had a feeling that he was going to have trouble gripping things for a while, but Quidditch was the first sport he ever played where people wanted him to be a member of the team. Sirius looked at him miserably, and Remus gave his left shoulder a comforting squeeze. "But the good news is that you get out of taking notes!" Sirius told him cheerfully as he tried his best to smile. "Hermione promised to take them for you, and I've ordered you a special quill. You'll just tell it what to write when you do your homework, and it'll write for you."

"What about Defense?" Harry didn't want to face Umbridge after her quills lost him Quidditch and put him in the Hospital Wing.

Sirius obviously hadn't considered this and eyed to the door, wondering where that toad was now. "Consider it a free period for now," Remus answered before Sirius could start making threats.

* * *

As it turned out, Defense Against the Dark Arts soon became a free period for everyone, at least for the rest of the week. Umbridge sat in her usual seat, ignoring the death glares that McGonagall was sending her and reached for the syrup to pour on her pancakes the following morning. If these fools thought that the Minister was going to punish her, they had another thing coming. Cornelius knew she would never break the law and that Potter was desperate for attention. She would tell him that Potter had written on himself to try to get her fired and put his sob story in _The Prophet_. Cornelius will be too busy trying to save his reputation to care and will go along with her story like it was nothing.

Umbridge giggled to herself. It was a simple plan, and with anyone else, it wouldn't work, but Cornelius was all about appearances and never thought too deeply into things. She took a bite of her pancake, wondering how she was going to get Potter back in her class. But she paused mid-chew when she bit down on something hard. Frowning, she spit her food into her napkin only to see that it was full of teeth…her own teeth. Squawking, Dolores flailed her arms out like a distressed bird, sending teeth flying everywhere.

Madame Pomfrey tried to hold Dolores still as her hair started falling out, but it wasn't until her arms and legs solidified to bone that she was able to be dragged away to the Hospital Wing.

Kim was helping Harry with his Potions Essay when Umbridge was levitated and placed a few beds away from Harry. Her eyes popped out of her head at the sight of the woman who had no hair or teeth and legs and arms that appeared to be frozen. Remus immediately sent her an accusatory glance that made her smile at him nervously. Sirius gripped his wand and narrowed his eyes. Harry did his best not to look at the toad.

Umbridge started yelling once Madame Pomfrey scurried off to find a bezoar. But all anyone one could hear her say was, "MLFLOFFF!" Her frantic eyes were staring at Kim, who was suddenly very interested in the texture of the sheets on Harry's bed.

"You know what?" Kim said suddenly with her voice at a rather high pitch. "I have to go…I have to go eat my vegetables…" She frowned at her own lie. "For breakfast?" Laughing nervously, she continued, "Whelp gotta run!"

Unfortunately, Remus followed her out of the Hospital Wing, and since he legs were a lot longer than hers, he caught up to her rather quickly, ignoring the stiffness in his legs that the full moon brought. She tried to quicken her stride, so Remus decided to talk and walk at the same time. "I'm hoping you at least didn't leave any evidence behind."

Kim pouted and wouldn't look at him. "Dobby has my back." Remus wouldn't say anything but kept following her. "I thought then Sirius wouldn't be mad at me anymore! Her teeth were only supposed to fall out!"

Although Remus wasn't about admit it, he was pretty sure that Sirius had never been prouder of his goddaughter. "I'm assuming that poison was from the book you got for your birthday."

Kim stopped in her tracks, making Remus trip over himself trying to immediately stop after walking so fast. Ignoring him, she pulled out the book and opened to the page that was bookmarked with a cute picture of a fluffy bunny licking an ice cream cone. "See! Right here, at the bottom! It only says loss of teeth."

Remus started to turn the page but stopped halfway through to roll his eyes at her. "The pages are stuck together." When he revealed the two hidden pages, he also revealed two whole pages of side effects. "Merlin!"

Everything was listed from diarrhea to hair loss to hair growth on the back to muscles turning to bones. Kim scanned through the hundreds of symptoms and smiled. Sirius was going to forgive her for sure now. "Cool."

The Marauder in Remus wanted to wholeheartedly agree, but the parent in Remus had to be firm. "It most certainly is not cool. If it wasn't for the fact that I didn't want you arrested, you would be marching to Albus's office to confess right now."

Kim sighed, thinking to herself that Remus was an odd one. "She'll be fine after the bezoar." She looked back at the book. "But I fear the back hair will be permanent. Oh well, nothing a little wax can't solve."

Remus felt his mouth twitch in an effort not to smile. "You know that it wasn't you're fault that Harry wound up in the Hospital Wing. He gets his stubbornness from James. Just learn from it and don't be afraid to say anything next time."

Kim looked at the ground sadly. "And don't resort to poisoning the fat bitch who started it all?"

Remus smiled proudly, ignoring the swearing for now. "Exactly."

* * *

Agatha grinned excitedly as she made her way through Hogsmeade later that morning. Hogwarts castle reminded her of the dirty romance novels about lords and heiresses that she liked to read in secret. Maybe she'd get a tour after she kicked some butt.

Once the wards approved her and let her through, Agatha strutted up to the first group of kids she saw and snapped her fingers at one of them. "You. Boy. Take me to the headmaster's office."

Vince blinked at her stupidly. "Why?"

"Because I said so." Agatha put her hands on her hips and started tapping her foot. "Now!" she commanded. The full moon was tonight, and she had thrown her patience out the window this morning when the sun came up.

Vince frowned, deep in thought while his friends eyed Agatha suspiciously except for Gregg, who found himself fixated on Agatha's breasts. Narrowing her eyes, she buttoned up her cloak, ignoring Pansy laughing at her. Finally, Vince was able to put his thoughts together and simply say, "Okay." And then he started marching towards the headmaster's office like a man on a mission.

But Agatha was still disappointed when they reached their destination. "While this gargoyle is pretty badass. I have to say, I expected, oh I don't know, a headmaster's office!" Vince just stared at her, unaffected by her grumpiness. "Oh come on!" She threw her hands up in the air. "I wanted this matter settled quickly so I can get a tour and go home and sleep after I had a nice long bath!" Agatha growled quietly. Her shoulders and neck were so stiff.

"What seems to be the problem, my dear?" Agatha jumped and spun around to see Professor Dumbledore smiling cheerfully at her. "We are going to have our meeting in the Hospital Wing, since Harry insisted on being part of it…And Miss Umbridge seems to be rather ill at the moment. Sirius had to be stunned to keep from hurting her…but the charm will wear off in a few minutes."

"Oh, okay." Agatha shrugged and then ruffled Vince's buzz cut. "Maybe you can show me the headmaster's office next time." Dumbledore chuckled at Vince's confusion but did nothing to assuage it as he led Agatha to the Hospital Wing.

Agatha grinned wolfishly at Umbridge when she entered the Hospital Wing. Umbridge was perfectly healthy as of thirty minutes ago but refused to get out of bed, claiming that the poison was still running through her veins and that Kimberly Potter had tried to kill her. Agatha glanced at Remus, who looked rather green and turned back to Umbridge. "If you and Fudge are willing to cooperate, then this won't go into the nighttime hours." She tapped her finger on her chin. "I'm pretty sure I took my potion tonight…Did I? Oh I don't know…" Remus blanched and held the windowsill for support while Umbridge yelped dramatically and drew her covers close to her. Sirius smirked.

Fudge showed up ten minutes late and looked rather bored. "These charges are ridiculous." He sighed. "At least they weren't brought to court." The Ministry was in charge of Hogwarts now, so any problems or accusations of crimes at the school were dealt with by the minister himself.

"But our other lawsuit will," Agatha informed him smugly. "Sending someone to prison without a trial is a crime."

"Wha-what?" Cornelius squealed. "Bla-Black has been cleared of all charges! He signed away his rights to sue for pain and suffering after he was declared innocent!"

Agatha tutted and wagged her index finger. "The Ministry warned all citizens that Sirius Black was legally insane during his escape. But you never bothered to change his status. Without an attorney or someone with power of attorney over him helping, Sirius's signature was invalid. Albus Dumbledore stood in as his attorney when Sirius adopted his two children, but with all the craziness after Peter Pettigrew was captured, you were foolish enough to have him sign these papers by himself."

Sirius frowned while Harry and Remus grinned. Did she just say that he was so crazy that he wasn't capable of signing legal documents? Or was he just so _legally _crazy that he wasn't capable? Sirius didn't know whether to be insulted or not.

Cornelius's jaw dropped. "What does that have to do with Potter's _lies_?" he asked once he recovered.

"Oh, nothing." Agatha giggled as she took a seat at the foot of Umbridge's bed. "It's just, twelve years in the most horrible place in the world is a long time." Her voice suddenly became as hard as steel. "We're going to sue you so badly that you won't be able to _afford_ a senior undersecretary."

"I'm not crazy!" Sirius snapped.

Agatha sighed sadly. "Crazy people always say that." Remus put a hand over Sirius's mouth before he could say anything more. "And since Pettigrew's picture has been in _The Prophet_, the general public believes that Sirius Black is innocent. A poor man tortured in Azkaban for no reason. Imagine what they'll say when they hear that he never had a trial. It will be complete chaos. People will worry if they will be thrown into Azkaban for no reason, countless prisoners will be screaming for appeals. And the people will wholeheartedly agree…"

"Okay, okay," Cornelius managed to wheeze out. "What do you want?" Sirius gritted his teeth. He wanted Umbridge to face prison time, but Albus had told him earlier that wasn't going to happen. The most she would get is a demotion since they didn't have concrete evidence besides Harry's word, which wasn't considered reliable at the moment. Hopefully, they would be able to catch Umbridge doing something else illegal while she was at Hogwarts. But at least she couldn't give out detentions. Harry was just wanted Umbridge out of the classroom. Then at least, the Ministry would have less power, and there was a chance that they would get a decent teacher. Although he knew it was foolish hope, he wondered if Remus could become a professor again.

"I want Umbridge to be revoked of her teaching position. And one hundred thousand galleons." She turned to Sirius. "My fee is twenty percent."

"That-that is outrageous!" Umbridge finally spoke up.

Cornelius hushed her with a dark look. "But she still is allowed to inspect teachers."

"But she isn't allowed to punish students or be in the same classroom as Harry James Potter!" Agatha shot back.

"I have to be the one to pick her replacement!" Cornelius was getting rather flustered. He hated losing.

Agatha pursed her lips. She had to have the last word. "Her replacement cannot be an employee of the Ministry!"

Cornelius looked ready to have a stroke. After a moment of silence, he finally conceded. "Very well. Have a contract drawn up, and I will sign it in the morning."

Agatha smiled triumphantly. "Don't worry. I drew up the contract a few hours ago. All you have to do is sign." She took a long piece of parchment out of her purse and handed him a quill. "Don't worry. The ink is royal blue."

* * *

Ginny smiled to herself. She was finally being released today! Her parents wanted her to be homeschooled for a while, but ever since she was conscious, they were putty in her hands. Ginny was going to "try" going back to school and would write to them if she wanted to go home. She would remain at home at night and stay at Grimmauld Place on the weekends. The healer said that she would adjust better if her life was kept as normal as possible. However, the only thing that bothered Ginny was that she couldn't find the time to have a decent conversation with Tom.

She saw the markings that the locket left behind as a symbol of love, not an ugly scar like Tom told her to lead the healers to believe. Tom said that the locket was meant for her to find that day in Sirius's house. The locket was left by his loyal servant and could be used to communicate with him. By attaching the essence of the locket to her soul, it was like Ginny and Tom were always one and were always in sync enough to talk to each other telepathically. But her mother's coddling and her father's sad stares were too distracting. She needed to wait for them to sleep in order to talk to Tom, and they usually didn't dare to close their eyes unless she was asleep too. Sometimes they even slept in shifts.

Finally, after nearly a week, Ginny saw an opportunity when she saw her dad's head thump against the arm of the sofa in her hospital room as he slept soundly for the first time since she had been taken. Her mother was knitting what looked like her annual Christmas jumper. "Mum?" Ginny whispered softly so she wouldn't wake up Dad.

Molly's head snapped up instantly. "What is it, Ginny dear?"

Ginny would've had trouble trying not to rolling her eyes if they weren't still healing. "Do you think you could get me some tea from the food court? I think it will help me sleep," she replied as sadly as she could.

"Of course, Sweetheart." Molly walked over to Ginny's bed and ran her hands through her daughter's hair, just happy to have her back. "Do you want me to wake up your father, so you aren't alone?"

"No!" Ginny said so urgently that Molly gave her an odd look. "He-he looks so tired all the time…"

Molly smiled. "Don't worry about him. He'll be alright."

"You'll only be gone a few minutes," Ginny pleaded, then thought to herself, _But don't hesitate to take your time._

But Molly was still reluctant to go. "If you're sure…"

Ginny put on a brave smile. "I'll be fine, Mummy."

The moment the door was shut behind Mrs. Weasley, Ginny shyly whispered in her head, _Tom?_

An urgent, worried voice was in her head in a flash. _Ginny? Thank Merlin you're all right! Bellatrix is still being punished severely for her actions!_

_ Thank you, Tom. I wish you would just kill her and get it over with, but I understand that she is a powerful witch and her talents can't be wasted._ Ginny paused, not sure how to ask about what she should say to her parents. _Those damned healers examined me and are claiming that I was raped. I don't know how to respond to their questions, so I've been playing the traumatized victim and haven't said anything yet._

_ I am so proud of you for coming to me first, my love,_ Voldemort praised sincerely. Too many of his Death Eaters thought they knew what he thought was best. This one was smart enough not to think too much about what she thought he wanted. Ginny made sure that she could carry out his commands without a doubt. _I know that I can't trust Narcissa, but from what you told me, either Lucius is also a spy, or he is simply telling his wife what she wants to hear. I need to know that he is loyal to me._

Ginny chuckled softly in understanding. Maybe this will be what can tear Kim and Harry apart._ It will be in the papers by tomorrow._

* * *

Kim sat on the other side of the Defense classroom on the day that they were getting their new teacher, stealing glances at Harry. Today was her brother's first day back, and as much as she wanted to hover over him in a way that would make Sirius proud, she couldn't abandon Draco, who everyone was steering clear of today. At breakfast, the front page read _"LUCIUS MALFOY WANTED FOR RAPE AND TORTURE" by Rita Skeeter_.

She and Draco sat at the last row in class, where no one else sat. Not even Pansy had the balls to talk to him today. Ron gave Kim a look of betrayal when she dragged Draco to the kitchens for breakfast today instead of welcoming Ginny back from the hospital, but Kim figured she would have to have that argument later. Ginny had everyone, and Draco had no one. Kim had a choice to make, and she made it. She only hoped that no one else, especially Harry, would hold it against her.

Harry didn't know what to think about the paper this morning. Ginny insisted it was true, and there was no way that he was going press her for details or ask her questions about it. He didn't have it in him to read the article either. The headline was enough to make him sick. However, something about it didn't seem right. As much as Harry thought Lucius Malfoy was a real bastard, he found it hard to belief that his wife would capture someone for him to torture. He would talk to Sirius and Remus about it later when he had physical therapy for his hand.

Since no one had the gall to talk about the article with Ron in the room, the entire class was in a buzz about who the new DADA teacher was going to be. Sirius and Remus didn't know anything about the mystery professor, only that Dumbledore had surprisingly thought the Ministry had made a good choice. Harry took that at least as a good sign. If only it was Remus or Sirius.

As many possibilities that ran through Harry's head, Harry had to say that the Ministry's choice shocked him. His jaw dropped, and he heard Kim groan in the background as Hogwarts's newest Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher strutted to the front of the class. She wore tight leather pants that made Crabbe and Goyle drool and a loose black top that had the sleeves cut off. Elizabeth smiled brightly at her first class. "You can call me Professor Abbott."

* * *

Ginny fiddled with her silver, rectangular glasses as she waited for Professor Snape to start his lecture. She was happy to say that she thought she looked great in glasses and hoped Tom approved the next time he saw her. It was weird getting used to have something on her head at all times though, but if she took them off, everything looked so blurry that she felt dizzy.

Sadly, no one sat next to her for her return. Everyone thought she needed space and time to recover. Oh well, she'd join another group in a week or so when her "tragic experience", as Skeeter called it, became old news. Fortunately, luck was on her side today because Hogwarts had received a new Slytherin transfer student this morning. Because she was transferred in the middle of the term, she was sorted in Dumbledore's office and escorted to her first class by a prefect a few moments later. Ginny noted that her skirt was a little on the short side, and she walked with the pride of a girl who knew she was gorgeous and wasn't afraid to use it to her advantage. Her eye patch did nothing to diminish her confidence.

Severus turned around from the chalkboard at the sound of the door opening and closing a minute after the bell rang. He dropped his chalk at the sight of the newcomer who sat next to Ginny and started taking out her books and a notebook with a black cat on the cover. Once she was settled, Stella looked at her father and smirked. "Hey Dad!"

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Kim's rival is back! I'm sure Fred will be happy! ;) Oh, and if anyone wants to know, I picture Agatha as looking like Leona Lewis. She's the only OC I actually pictured as looking like a real life person…Anyway…Please review!**


	20. Pip, Flip, and Skip

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 20

Elizabeth surveyed her class with curiosity instead of the nervousness she was expecting when she woke up this morning. She could tell by the nasty look on Kim's face that the girl guessed who came to the castle with her, so Elizabeth thought it was best not to pick on her today. Harry was injured so he couldn't be the first to be called on. His red haired best friend looked rather put out, but hey, she had to pick on somebody. "Mr. Weasley!" He made a face that said, _you've got to be kidding me._ "How'd you like to be my demonstrator for today?"

"I wouldn't," Ron replied sourly.

"Oh! Even better! Up front Mr. Weasley!" Elizabeth giggled. "Or I guess I'll just tell you all about Sev, you know, Professor Snape. He really is a good kisser…but I _was_ drunk at the time…" Ron shot out of his seat while the class started to murmur. Elizabeth only laughed harder. Severus was going to kill her.

Ron wasn't in the mood to wait for her to stop laughing. "So what do you want me to do?"

Elizabeth wiped her eyes. The thought of Severus's face after hearing about what she said brought tears to her eyes. "I'm going to throw spells at you, and you'll dodge them. Then I'll teach you how to slide." Ron narrowed his eyes. Shouldn't she teach him _before_ she started trying to curse him?

She didn't give him time to argue though because before he knew it, Ron was running all around, rolling away from hexes, jinxes, and curses that he was sure would land him in the Hospital Wing. He found himself diving to the ground, yelling out in frustration when he had to roll away from a hex that left the floor smoking. Scrambling to his feet, Ron ducked behind book shelves and desks, only hearing Elizabeth laughing when a curse whizzed by his ear.

It was Malfoy that did him in though. Ron saw an arrogant smirk on the ferret's face and stopped dead in his tracts, opening his mouth to call Malfoy every name in the book. But before he could utter a single insult, Ron was hit with a stinging hex that knocked him to the ground. He growled when he heard Elizabeth start to clap.

"Excellent! Excellent!" She squealed with delight. "Thirty one points for Gryffindor! I didn't think you would last that long!"

Panting with exhaustion, Ron gasped out, "Thirty one?"

"My favorite number," Elizabeth said simply. "Now. Are you ready to learn?" Ron looked like he was ready for a nap instead. "Good! I'll demonstrate first."

Elizabeth first broke out into a run and slid across the floor, remind Harry of the time Kim and Lee made everyone play baseball. He sent Ron an encouraging smile, wishing he could try it himself. Maybe once he hand wasn't in a brace anymore… Elizabeth jumped up and turned to Ron. "Put one leg first and bend the other. Make sure you keep your hands away from the ground. Go as fast as you can."

Ron stared at her like she was crazy and felt his ears burn at having to learn this in front of everyone. Taking a deep breath, Ron ran as fast as he could and tried to slide, wincing as he felt himself tumble on the ground. The laughter was torturous.

"One hundred and nine points from Slytherin!" Elizabeth shrieked. The instant silence made Ron open one eye. "Try to keep those eyes open next time, Sweetie."

It took Ron a few times, but sure enough, he was soon sliding so fast that none of Elizabeth's hexes came close to getting him. Everyone wanted to pair up with him when the class started practicing on their own. Blushing, Ron asked Hermione to be partners, grinning ear to ear when she said yes.

* * *

Severus glared at Elizabeth when she slid into a seat next to his at lunch, smiling sweetly. "You could have told me," he hissed quietly.

"It's more fun this way, darling." Elizabeth chuckled at Stella and Kim, who were glaring at each other from across the room. Kim gave Stella the middle finger, making Stella stick her nose in the air and turn her attention to a sixth year Slytherin prefect.

"How'd you even get this position?" Severus asked jealously. "You don't even have a Masters in Defense! You barely got an A on it in your NEWTs."

Elizabeth poured herself some pumpkin juice and smiled down at her goblet. "I've missed this." Turning back to Severus, she shrugged. "The Minister enjoys other favors besides monetary ones."

Severus felt his jaw drop, at a loss her words. "You…you…"

Again she shrugged. "Stella wanted to see you, so I figured, might as well." Then she laughed to herself. "If you want the job next, Cornelius likes to silk sheets."

Severus narrowed his eyes, looking over to see Stella whisper something in Nicolas Grimmet's ear and then looking over at the Gryffindor table to see Fred Weasley staring at the pair enviously. "Our daughter is picking up your…lascivious habits."

Elizabeth looked at the two scenes that Severus was glaring at. "Hmmm….Interesting. My vote is for the Weasley twin. Can you imagine having grandchildren with that red hair?" Severus shuddered at the thought. "What about you?"

"She shouldn't be dating," Severus said through clenched teeth. "Weasley is seventeen. She is fourteen."

"She'll be fifteen December thirty first. I'd save the date if you want to live to see the next one, Sev." Severus froze and clenched his fists. Until now, he hadn't even known when his own daughter's birthday was. He felt like an idiot for not asking. Now he had no idea what to get her and would be damned if he asked Elizabeth. Believe or not, he wasn't too pleased with her right now. "She likes penguins. I think they subconsciously remind her of her father."

Elizabeth brought Severus back to reality with her immature jokes and snickering. "Don't think we're friends again, Liz," he snapped, feeling a blush creep into his cheeks when he realized he used her old nickname. "Shut up!" he muttered before she could tease him further.

* * *

Draco felt like a rag doll by the time dinner came along. Stella told Kim in the hallway that she was going to steal her boyfriend, so Kim dragged Draco wherever she went, even going so far as to make him wait for her in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Draco rolled his eyes in revulsion. At least she only had to pee…

"We're sitting at Ravenclaw for dinner!" Kim stated, leaving no room for argument. "Ron would eat you alive if we sat at Gryffindor, and I don't want us anywhere near that _harlot_." Draco wanted to tear his hair out but opted to give his girlfriend a strained smile instead. He wasn't sure if he could handle doing this for the rest of the school year. What happened when it was time for bed? Or showering? As much as he wanted to think of a certain direction those events could go in, Draco knew that wouldn't solve the problem in the slightest and if anything, might make it worse.

When they sat down, Draco decided that he was really losing it if he thought (prayed) that Looney Lovegood could talk some sense into his girlfriend. "Good evening," she smiled dreamily at Kim. "My father loved the article you did on rabid flobber worms. Are we having another DA meeting soon? I know it's difficult with Harry's hand, but I was hoping that he could teach and have someone else demonstrate."

Kim pursed her lips. She hadn't had the chance to talk to Harry _all day._ "I'll wait 'til things calm down with Ginny before I ask him anything." Luna nodded in understanding.

Draco loaded his plate with string beans, making Kim crinkle her nose in disgust. "I don't think I'll be able to go to any DA meetings for a while. But you should go."

"Why not?" Kim snapped. Draco was slowly losing his friends. He wasn't going to lose her to! "You have every right to go!"

Luna looked between them and sighed sadly. "Draco looks a lot like Lucius. It might traumatize Ginny." Kim narrowed her eyes, making Luna raise her hands in defense. "I'm just stating the obvious."

Draco felt his body become rigid. "My father didn't do it!" His heart skipped a beat at his own words. He was supposed to keep that thought to himself. There was no way anyone was going to believe him. All he was going to do was start a huge fight.

"What do you mean?" Kim said slowly. Luna, thankfully, acted like she didn't hear them and let them have a private conversation. Draco winced, sure that she was going to start screaming for all to hear at any moment. "Because as nasty as Ginny has been lately, I don't think that she would lie." Draco looked up to see not anger in her eyes, but pity. That made it even worse. She'd simply think he was too grief stricken over losing the pedestal he had placed his father upon.

Taking a depth breath, Draco decided to tell her what his mother had told him shortly before they found Ginny in the Forest. "My mum…she told me…Well, I don't know how anyone is going to believe me, but she told me that Ginny went to the Dark—to You-Know-Who willingly." Kim only stared at him, making him nervous. "I know it sounds crazy but that's what she told me, and I believe her!"

Kim wasn't sure whether to believe Draco or not. She felt was guilty. They had agreed not to tell anyone that Narcissa had talked to Draco shortly before they found Ginny. They saw no reason to…Actually, Draco had known a reason and chose not to tell her. Kim knew he was protecting his mom and tried to push away the feelings of hurt, betrayal, and anger. All she was willing to say was, "We have to tell Professor Dumbledore."

A prefect gave them the password to the headmaster's office, and Draco felt more anxiety course through his veins with every step he took. He was afraid the old coot would think he was spying for his parents. If the Order didn't trust him, then he would have nowhere to go when he wasn't at school. He was sure he could stay at Blaise's, but he knew that Pansy's family would probably be over for the holidays, and Draco didn't trust her mother.

Kim was tugging him rather roughly the entire way, letting Draco know that she wasn't too pleased with him but wasn't going to push it. She threw him a few dirty looks and broke into a run once the gargoyle moved to reveal the steps. Draco was wheezing by the time they were in Dumbledore's office…he really needed to get more exercise.

The color drained out of his face when he saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talking quietly with Dumbledore. Even Kim gaped at the sight of them. What were they going to say? Draco was sure that Mr. Weasley would kill him with his bare hands if he even suggested that he believed Narcissa.

"What brings the two of you here?" Dumbledore asked with grimness in his voice. He knew that whatever they had to say, it wasn't good. And he also knew it was most likely about the elder Malfoys, given the fact that the younger looked ready to have a heart attack at the sight of the Weasleys. Draco tried to open his mouth to give some feeble excuse but felt like the wind was knocked out of him instead. He couldn't do it…he just couldn't. Dumbledore nodded gravelly in understanding. "Arthur? Molly? Can you set up an emergency Order meeting? I will be at Number 12 shortly."

Mrs. Weasley looked like she felt bad for Draco, like she must be wondering how horrible it would feel to have a monster for a father. Draco quickly looked away from her. He couldn't believe that his father would do those vile things to Ginny, it was too much to bare. But he was respectful enough not to say anything to the woman. It was Mr. Weasley, who scared the crap out of him.

The man looked like he could barely contain his rage. For the first time ever, Draco wished he didn't look so much like his father. Besides rage, Draco could see pain and tiredness in Mr. Weasley's face and posture. He looked so…defeated with his slumped shoulders and the bags in his eyes. Draco never thought he'd be afraid of someone who looked so worn down. With a resentful sigh, Mr. Weasley mumbled, "Let's go, Molly," not even having the energy to care about whatever it was Draco had to say. He knew he wouldn't like it, but he'd worry about it when he knew what it was.

Once the Weasleys passed through the floo, Dumbledore informed them of the reason they were in his office. "Ginny wants to try to sleep at school for the first time since…" He looked at the two of them sadly. "I told them that Professor McGonagall would check on her periodically throughout the night."

Draco felt like his mouth was full of sand as Dumbledore patiently waited for him to state his reason for being here. He looked at the ground. "I don't know how to say this without coming off as cruel, but…"

* * *

Sirius watched Arthur pace the dining room while the entire Order was waiting for Albus to show up. He wondered if he looked that worried when he paced. He probably did, but Sirius didn't realize until now how hard it must be for his loved ones to watch. The man looked like hell and had every good reason to.

Finally, after almost an hour, a faint green glow could be seen appearing from the crack under the door in the kitchen. Albus had flooed through the living room fireplace. All the nervous chatter froze as if the temperature in the room went down into the negative degrees. Arthur ceased his pacing and whipped his head around to the door. Sirius shivered.

But Albus didn't seem to have much to say. "I want everyone to find as much research on horcruxes as you can. Arthur, Molly. I would like to speak to the both of you privately." Without another word, Albus started heading back to the living room. Sirius felt silencing charms being put up the second Molly shut the kitchen door behind her.

Emmeline raised her eyebrows. "That's a rather interesting development…"

Sirius had no idea what horcruxes were, and he wasn't about to tell her that. Instead, he said harshly, "Shut up, Emmeline! The meeting's over, so go home." Remus gave him a disapproving look but thought it was in his best interests not to defend his ex-girlfriend.

Emmeline laughed without humor and was about to angrily retort back when Mr. Weasley's screams of outrage broke through the silencing charms. "YOU ARE GOING TO BELIEVE A _**MALFOY**_ INSTEAD OF MY LITTLE GIRL? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU ALBUS? IT'S BAD ENOUGH THAT MY GINNY HAS TO SEE HIS FACE EVERYDAY AT SCHOOL! NO! THERE'S NO WAY SHE'S GOING TO DRINK EVEN A DROP OF TRUTH SERUM!"

"A-Arthur!" Molly sounded terrified.

"I'LL HOMESCHOOL HER, I'LL MOVE TO SIBERIA, I'LL KILL LUCIUS MYSELF IF THAT'S WHAT IT TAKES! BUT I REFUSE TO ALLOW HER TO BE PERSECUTED! EITHER YOU DROP IT AND TELL THAT-THAT _BOY_ THAT HE IS NO LONGER WELCOME WITH US OR YOU CAN EXPECT ME TO FIGHT TO HAVE HIM REMOVED FROM SCHOOL! AND AFTER WHAT WAS IN THE PAPERS, FUDGE WILL BE ALL TOO WILLING!"

There were a few seconds of silence, then the sound of the front door slamming, and finally, everyone could see the light of Albus flooing back to Hogwarts and hear the sound of Molly sobbing. Molly ran up to her room as soon as she recovered from the shock of what happened, and soon enough, the other Order members disappeared. Sighing because he knew Molly wanted to be alone, Remus dragged Sirius to the library to start looking for books on horcruxes.

* * *

Draco was glad when the weekend finally came. At least then he could hide in his room all day from the Weasleys and all the tension that came with them. He only came up during meals, and only avoided the kitchens because lately whenever he went, Dobby gave him funny looks. It wasn't resentful looks that Draco expected, and somewhat deserved. Dobby simply looked at him like he was confused, which confused Draco to no end. But with everything going on, he didn't really have the strength to look into it.

At dinner, Kim's possessiveness flared up when Stella walked in with them into the Great Hall. She gripped his arm so hard that Draco wondered if he would have finger-shaped bruises later. Before going their separate ways Stella looked at Kim and said, "Bitch."

Kim narrowed her eyes and responded instantly. "Slut." Afterwards both girls turned up their noses and went their separate ways. Draco watched Stella sit with the Slytherins while he and Kim took asylum at the Ravenclaw table once again. They even walked the same…If the two didn't look so different, Draco could've called them twins. Their hair was even styled similarly, just different colors. Kim squeezed his arm so hard that he yelped. "You belong to me so keep your eyes to yourself!"

Draco chuckled to himself. "I was just wondering when I can sit at my own table again."

"When a house lands on Stella."

Draco blinked in surprised. "What?"

Kim rolled her eyes. "Oh never mind," she grumbled.

* * *

Kim woke up rather early in the morning towards the end of November feeling abuzz with energy. She didn't know what to do. It was still dark outside so everyone was asleep, but she couldn't possibly sit still. Giggling quietly to herself, Kim creeped up to the boy's dorm and snuck over to where Harry kept the invisibility cloak. It was their dad's so technically it was hers too! Harry wouldn't mind if she borrowed it for a little while.

Once she was safely in the Common Room, Kim laughed like a maniac and threw on the cloak, running through the portrait to make her great escape. Whenever she saw a prefect, she laughed rather loudly and ran in the opposite direction, struggling to contain her laughter when they started yelling and threating to deduct points. If only Percy was still in school…

Kim grinned evilly when she saw Nicolas Grimmett, the jerk. He lowered himself on the totem pole in her mind when she saw him drooling over Stella. And so, Kim felt no guilt whatsoever when she ran up to him and kicked him right in the ass. He fell to the ground, looking around in terror. "Who-who's there? Is it you Peeves? I'm going to tell the Baron!" But all he could hear was high pitched shrieks of laughter coming from nowhere. He tried to be cool and laugh it off. "What's that Peeves? Have you got yourself a girlfriend? Or are you just becoming more effeminate as the years go on?" He was met with silence that increased his heart rate. "Peeves?" But all he could hear was the footsteps of Kim running away.

The minute Kim was out of Grimmett's earshot and on the grass outside the castle, she was literally rolling around on the ground laughing. She'd have to write to Sirius about that later…Kim pouted at the thought of Sirius. They hadn't spoken since Harry was in the Hospital Wing.

But she was too hyper right now to care, and there was only one thing to do when you were really happy. She had to find some unicorns. Singing loudly and off key, Kim started trotting to the Forbidden Forest. She stuffed the invisibility cloak in her pocket and cast _Lumos_ so she could actually see in front of her.

She didn't get far into the Forest before hearing a loud, shrill sound, reminding her of a rather angry bird. Wondering what adventures awaited her, Kim spun around to see the most interesting creatures she ever laid eyes on.

There were three of them, a little family of horse-like creatures with leathery skin. Kim quickly named them Pip, Skip, and Flip. Flip was the baby, who constantly flipped his hair from side to side. Skip was the father, who skipped around family protectively, wondering what Kim was up to. And the mother, Pip…Well, Kim just thought she looked like a Pip to her.

Trying and failing to stop giggling, Kim slowly walked over to the family, delighted to find out that they had giant bat wings. "Wanna play?" Skip snorted and shook his head, but Flip whinnied and pushed his way through. "Tag! Tag! Tag! We're gonna play tag!"

Tag was more Kim running around like a nut and shrieking with glee as Flip chased her while his parents watched. She cartwheeled around and smacked Pip's butt to try to get her to play with them, but Skip tried to nip at her while Pip chose to ignore her, so it was up to her and Flip to have a good time tonight.

After about an hour, the Thestral family decided it was time for an early breakfast. Kim felt like she was scarred for life when she saw Pip jump in the air and snatch a crow and Skip stomp on two unfortunate rats that happened to be skittering by. Flip didn't seem to mind though and trotted up to his father to take the smaller of the rats. Kim gagged when Flip offered her the tail but didn't have the heart to not except the present. She smiled nervously and put the tail in her pocket. "I'll save it for later, Flip."

"Who's there?" Kim whipped around to see Hagrid pointing a pink umbrella at her. Narrowing his eyes, he lowered the umbrella. "What ar' you doin' out here? It ain't even five in the morning!"

Kim grinned, happy to finally have someone to talk to. "Hagrid! You're back! Where have you been? I was gonna bring you soup, but you weren't home, and the soup got cold, and Buckbeak wanted it so I gave it to him, and he was so funny drinking it! And what happened to your face, Hagrid? Were there bullies? Do you want me to kick them in their private parts? Cause I'll do it! Don't think I won't! He-hey!"

Hagrid thought she got into some plants that she shouldn't get into and scooped her up to take her to the Hospital Wing. Kim kicked and yelled and kept asking the rules of whatever game they were playing as Hagrid threw her over his shoulder. He decided not to run in case she somehow managed to squirm out of his grasp. It took them about fifteen minutes to get to the Hospital Wing.

"You found her where?" Sirius asked in disbelief about an hour later. Remus was a yard or two away from him, trying to hold Kim down as Madame Pomfrey tried to check her magical levels. She was getting more hysterical by the minute, thinking that Remus was trying to tickle her.

"I found 'er playin' with some Thestrals in the Forest. It's a good thing I found 'er. You never know what you are goin' to run into in the Forest," Hagrid told him seriously.

"Miss Potter!" Madame Pomfrey had her wand out, ready to stun her.

"Remus! Remus! Stop tickling me! What did you do to your ears? You look so cute!" Kim broke into another fit of laughter at the sight of the wolf ears on Remus's head.

"I-I…last night I was practicing becoming an animagus and got a little stuck. Sirius was going to fix it this morning." Remus could barely contain his anxiety. "Can-can you try to sit still, please? Only for a minute." He was nearly begging at this point.

Sirius ran his hand through his hair and tried to keep his attention on Hagrid. "Jesus. I'm sorry Hagrid and thank you. This keeps happening, and we don't know how to explain it. I think we need to set up wards in the girls' dormitory at night."

Letting out a noise of frustration, Madame Pomfrey raised her wand and pointed it at Kim's shoulder. A light stunner should do it…

But she didn't have to because Draco opened the doors, making Kim stop and smile at him. Rolling her eyes and grumbling, Madame Pomfrey muttered something under her breath and declared, "A hundred and eighty two percent. Two percent higher than last time." She scribbled the note on a clipboard that she was going to send to her sister. Remus collapsed into a nearby chair.

Draco frowned at the scene before him. "What the hell? I was doing my rounds and could hear you laughing all the way down the hall."

"Draco! Draco! Draco! We should go on a date today! Where? I don't know. Let's go to Italy or France or Professor Flitwick's office! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Draco's eyes widened by how hyper she was. She laughed loudly. "What's a matter? Scared I'll make some _moves_ on you?" She started laughing again, and didn't stop until late that night.

* * *

Harry was working on clenching and unclenching his hand in the Hospital Wing. He knew something was up when both Malfoy and Kim were absent today, but he hoped that they were just goofing off. He didn't want to go to the Hospital Wing to prove himself wrong. "Ah!"

"Easy on that hand, Harry," Sirius said patiently. "You won't be fully healed until around Remus's birthday."

Harry grinned through the pain. "Hermione writes me about twenty pages of notes a day. It's too much."

"Harry, it _is_ the OWLs year," Sirius said in a high pitched voice, mocking Hermione.

"She'd kill you if she wasn't studying right now." Harry bent his fingers slightly. "Better?"

Sirius frowned with worry. "I suppose. But it's nearly eleven. We should stop now."

They had gotten to a late start because Kim's babbling distracted Harry until around nine at night. She wanted to know every detail about his day, but kept interrupting with weird questions like what color ink did Lavender Brown write with that day. Right now, her cheeks were bright pink, and she was falling asleep. Remus was dozing in a nearby chair, fighting to keep his eyes open. Malfoy was holding Kim's hand, running his fingers over a green ring she was wearing. Harry quickly looked away, to see a calendar behind Malfoy. He frowned instantly. Today was Monday… "Sirius? What's today's date?"

Sirius raised his eyebrows at the question. "November 27th. Well, it will be the 28th in about an hour."

Harry's frowned deepened as he thought hard about the dates that Kim was like this. The last time was the easiest to remember since it was Halloween, but the others, not so much. Suddenly it hit him, only confusing him further. "There's a pattern to this."

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Elizabeth gave 31 points to Gryffindor because Stella was born on November 31rst, and she took 109 points from Slytherin because Snape was born January 9****th****, so 1/09. Anyone know the pattern? Please review!**


	21. Stella the Star

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

Chapter 21

Malfoy's head snapped in Harry's direction, and Remus was suddenly wide awake, making Harry feel like everyone was watching him. Well, actually everyone _was_ staring at him. Clearing his throat, Harry turned away from Sirius's piercing gaze. "It's every month. Every time it's on a Monday."

Sirius shook his head. "It happened twice in October."

"There are five weeks in October, Black." Draco glared at him. "And it happened once in the beginning and once at the very end."

Before Sirius could start yelling, Remus decided to say what Draco was trying to say, just more nicely. "Harry is trying say to every four weeks exactly, not every month. So every twenty eighty days."

Sirius frowned, thinking hard like he was about to come up with some medical breakthrough. Instead, he just shuddered in revulsion and said, "Ew."

"What do you mean 'ew'? This could be a very important…" Remus froze and made a similar disgusted face. "Are you thinking that this has been happening all this time, because of PMS?" He was met with silence that Harry thought was so awkward that he wondered if it was time he went to bed.

And Draco only made worse it by eventually asking, "Well, is someone going to…check?"

Sirius sent him a death glare. "You'd like that wouldn't you, you disgusting little—"

"Sirius," Remus warned. "I think he was referring to Poppy."

"Why would I want to—that-that's disgusting!" Draco snapped, trying to hide his embarrassment. Harry put his face in his hands. He hoped this argument wouldn't continue all night. Maybe he should've waited until morning and told Madame Pomfrey.

Sirius folded his arms and looked away. He didn't care who it was. He didn't want anyone touching Kim or looking at her…down there. "We can ask her tomorrow."

* * *

Kim woke up the next morning with a terrible headache and with her ears full of the sound of everyone whispering about her. She felt her hair plastered to her face and threw her blanket off of her. It was too damn hot in here. She opened one eye to see Madame Pomfrey arguing with Sirius. "It will take two seconds, Sirius! It's getting late, and I want the letter explaining this new development to get to my sister as soon as possible!"

"There's no way I'm letting you take her pants off!" Sirius snapped.

Kim snapped both eyes open. "What?!"

Remus sighed, making Kim think that they had been arguing in circles like this for hours. "Oh thank God. Can you _please_ answer a question to shut them up?"

"Okay…" Kim wasn't in the mood to play games today and felt like she was more in the mood to punch somebody in the face. "So…Care to ask the question?" Remus flinched and said nothing, becoming very interested in his shoes. Sirius opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to form words that just wouldn't come out. Harry was nowhere to be found, and Draco was rather red in the face.

"Oh for goodness sake!" Madame Pomfrey rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Are you menstruating, Miss Potter?"

Kim stared at her, once she was able to collect herself, she said, "So late me get this straight. While I was sleeping, you all decided to talk about my period."

Sirius looked at the ceiling and muttered, "Just answer the question."

"No, I'm not and won't be for a couple of weeks! And what asshole wants to know?" Kim glared at them all, and the only one who didn't flinch under her gaze was Madame Pomfrey.

Before Sirius could start stammering out his theory, Madame Pomfrey explained that Harry noticed Kim's episodes were exactly four weeks apart. "So it was automatically assumed that this was happening with your other monthly occurrences."

Kim snorted. Just because she was a girl, didn't mean that anything that happened to her monthly had to do with her period. "You guys are so fucking weird."

Remus pinched the bridge of his nose. "You know your cursing drives me crazy," he mumbled as Madame Pomfrey checked her over.

Kim scowled. "Well, you _should_ know that you all talking about my period while I'm sleeping drives _me_ crazy."

* * *

And so the subject was dropped. Well, in Kim's eyes anyway. She was out of the Hospital Wing the next day, trying to ignore Remus's hovering and saying that she had to go back to school because she was currently failing History of Magic. As she thought, Remus's dumbstruck expression allowed her to escape. Draco narrowed his eyes at her as they speed walked as fast as they could to their first class. "You're _failing_ the easiest class in the world?"

Kim gave him a cool look. "Just because you think it's easy, doesn't mean it is, Draco. God, you're so insensitive."

They stopped outside the Defense classroom. Kim pouted, trying to look cute so Draco would lecture her. Today they were learning a spell that would break their attacker's wand wrist. He better not hold them up. "Every test is always on a Goblin rebellion, and all the quizzes are always on the mistreatment of witches and wizards throughout time. And the homework is always about the history of the Ministry! You always know what to study, depending on what chapter we're doing!"

Kim pursed her lips, knowing that she was going to have the exact same conversation with Remus later. "I haven't been studying or doing any of the homework…" She looked at ground, wincing as she could practically feel Draco's eyes popping out of this head. "With all my detentions I had to neglect _something_. So I figured I'd neglect the most boring subject. But my grade's slowly getting better in Defense and-and I have O's and E's in everything else!" she added to try to change the subject.

Draco glared at her. "We have a test next Monday. And guess what we're doing this weekend?"

Kim's eyes widened. "No!"

"Yes," Draco told her firmly. Kim groaned. Maybe she should have stayed in the Hospital Wing after all.

* * *

While Kim was drowning in every History textbook in the library that weekend, Harry managed to give Sirius the slip to plan for his birthday party on Tuesday. The only gift idea he could get from Kim was a puppy so Harry found himself a bit stuck. Surprisingly enough, Ginny came to the rescue. She playfully punched his shoulder while they were discussing it at lunch on Saturday. "Come over The Burrow tomorrow. Dad will help us fix Sirius's motorbike."

Harry perked up while Ron grimaced, wondering if this was considered a date between the two of them. At least his dad would be there to make sure nothing happened. "That's brilliant, thanks Gin! I'm sure Remus can get a hold of it for us."

Ginny smiled, almost feeling like her old self again. Tom hadn't been in contact with her recently, and although he was never far from her thoughts, she felt much calmer without having a mission. They were planning on doing something towards the end of the school year, but for now, Tom wanted her to rest and recover from her traumatic ordeal with Bellatrix. "Where are we having the party?"

"The Room of Requirement seems like the best choice," Hermione butted in, making Ginny glower. She wanted a decent conversation with _Harry_, not Hermione. Her possessiveness flared up like it did back in September, but Ginny didn't seem to notice this or find it odd in the slightest. Even though she was in love with Tom, for some reason she saw Harry as belonging to her. She had to have him, and no one else could.

"Do you think you can tell Kim not to bring…" Ron looked at Ginny sadly. "…you know…"

Harry sighed. Kim wasn't going to like it, especially since things were strained between her and Sirius ever since he landed himself in the Hospital Wing because of his hand. "Of course. But make sure Sirius gets his bike if I'm found gutted like a fish on Monday night." Ron laughed nervously and nodded.

* * *

Kim was in meltdown mode Monday night after writing about ten goblin rebellions during their OWLs length test. And she wasn't too happy when Harry chose the night before to remind her about Sirius's birthday. "Why'd you wait until today?" she whined. "Draco didn't go last year anyway!"

"Er, well…I didn't know you forgot. 'Cause, you know, I asked you what to get him on Friday…" Harry looked at the ground. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Gut you like a fish!" She threw herself face first into the Common Room couch, thankfully not seeing Harry's smile. "I can't even leave the grounds. The Owerly will be locked by now, so I can't order anything 'till tomorrow, and it'll be too late then!"

"Um, Sirius likes food?" Harry winced after he said it. Dobby already declared that he was in charge of the food.

Kim rolled off the couch, making herself fall to the ground and moan with self-pity. "Now he'll really hate me!" She crawled up the stairs towards her dormitory, not saying a word to anyone but Draco until Sirius's party.

* * *

Kim showed up rather late to Sirius's party, after he opened the presents. Sirius looked rather sour, thinking she was still angry with him and wasn't going to show up at all, and Harry felt rather guilty, thinking that she was embarrassed that she couldn't find anything to get him. Finally, at around ten, Kim stomped into the Room of Requirement with a rather large cardboard box. She looked like Crookshanks after he was rudely awoken during a nap and hissed when Colin Creevey tried to take a picture of her. The poor boy ran away fearfully. She walked over to the table where Sirius was stuffing his face with cupcakes and slammed the box in front of him. Remus thinned his lips to conceal his laughter when she threw Harry a particularly dark look.

Sirius eyed the box warily, opening it half expecting it to explode. "Uh…thanks?" He looked at the rainbow orbs with confusion.

"All I could find was Fruity Peebles on such short notice." Clenching her fists, she stormed off to where Luna Lovegood was trying to pin the tail on the unicorn.

"It's cereal, Sirius." Harry looked at the box guiltily. He was going to have to apologize to her later.

Sirius narrowed his eyes, watching her kick a fallen piñata. "Soooo…Should I talk to her?"

"She thinks you're still mad about my hand, and she thinks the cereal made it worse." Harry frowned as she picked up the empty piñata and tried to throw it at Ron. She looked devastated when it missed and floated to the ground.

"I thought she was still mad at me!" Sirius exclaimed. Remus had lectured him for a good hour that night after Harry had fallen asleep.

Remus smiled, thinking that they were both being idiots. "Perhaps that means you ought to talk to her." Sirius stood up like he was forced to walk the plank and solemnly strode over to where Kim was moping. Remus rolled his eyes.

Sirius wasn't sure if Kim was glaring at him as he made his way over to her, or if she was simply sending nasty looks to anyone having fun in general. It was times like this when Sirius would wonder what James would do, but then he would realize that James would most likely mess up even worse than he himself did, so that route was never a good idea. Lily would never have been in such a situation, and if Sirius would've asked for advice, he would probably spend a good amount of time being yelled at for hurting her baby girl's feelings. And so, Sirius had no choice but to wing it. "Um…is this seat taken?" Sirius gestured to the floor that she was sitting on.

Kim hissed and tried to nicely tell him to buzz off. "You're thirty six. You'll hurt your back trying to get up."

Sirius narrowed his eyes. "Hahaha." He threw himself on the floor, hoping she wasn't right. "I thought you were mad at me."

"I thought you'd be mad at me!" Kim huffed. "I got you cereal for your birthday when Harry fixed your bike!"

"And here I thought this was about our fight in the Hospital Wing about a month ago." Sirius felt rather relieved when he said what had been bothering them both for about a month. Remus had been pounding that day into his conscience ever since it happened.

Kim fidgeted. "You were going to hit me," she said quietly.

Sirius sighed. "I wasn't going to." He looked over at her and flinched at the irritated look she was giving him. "But I wanted to," he added half-jokingly.

"So can I hit you?" Kim asked like it was the most normal question in the world.

"What? No!" Sirius was avoiding this conversation because he thought she would cry or never want to speak to him again. He should have realized that she would make it weird when she handed him a giant box filled with cereal. "Thanks for asking though."

"Well it is your birthday…" Kim pursed her lips while Sirius was trying to think of a good way to apologize. Unfortunately, she threw him another curveball. "You like Harry more than me."

Sirius felt his jaw drop. "That-that's not true!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"No it isn't!"

"_Yes_ it i—"

"You like Remus more than me!" Sirius frowned after he said it. Maybe he should have asked her why she said thought he loved Harry more than her… Remus was going scold him for acting so childishly.

Kim looked at him darkly and said in a low, dangerous voice, "Because Remus doesn't pick favorites."

Sirius folded his arms. "And neither do I."

"Yeah you do! You go crazy when something happens to him because he's a better kid! But you only go crazy with me when I do something bad!"

Sirius looked at the ground. He got more nervous when something happened to Harry because the prophecy sometimes made him feel like Harry was destined to die. But there was no way he could tell her that. "You are more likely to stick up for yourself than Harry is. I feel like you are a bit more…resilient."

"Well, I'm not!" Kim scowled. "Are you calling me loud?"

Sirius blinked. Now he was getting confused. "Um…what?"

"You said I stick up for myself more, which means I talk back more, which means you're calling me loud!" Kim exclaimed indignantly. Sirius stared at her, dumbstruck. She sulked. Sirius should understand it since he's the one being an ass! "I'm telling Remus."

"See! Harry wouldn't have said anything!" Meanwhile, Sirius was praying that she wouldn't tell Remus. He was turning this into a big mess, and he imagined Remus wouldn't be too happy about it.

"So now you're calling me a tattle tale!" Her cheeks were a little red, meaning she meant every word she said. Sirius wondered if he would ever understand what was going on in her head.

"Am not! If you want get to embarrassed, I'll make a scene every time your accident prone little body gets hurt." Sirius expected her to laugh but instead, she put on her Crookshanks face and scowled at all the kids going nuts around them.

Finally, she mumbled, "Okay then. But you have to mean it!"

Sirius was about ready to bang his head against the wall. "I solemnly swear I will have a nervous breakdown the next time something bad happens to you."

"Good." Her face finally started looking less grumpy.

Sirius grinned evilly. "You know, now that I think about it…I did get Harry a Firebolt for Christmas two years ago and you only cookies."

Kim's face fell instantly. "You had to ruin it, didn't you!?"

"I think to make up for it that it would be time to get that puppy." Sirius laughed when her eyes popped out of her head. It was time to get revenge on Remus for making him feel so guilty…even though he should've. "But I can't get you one unless I have Remus's approval. I wouldn't want to upset him."

Kim was up in a flash. "REMUS!" She ran over to him, giving Sirius little time to find a hiding spot for the rest of the night. "SIRIUS SAID WE CAN GET A PUPPY IF YOU SAY YES!"

* * *

The next Saturday was a Hogsmeade weekend, but Dumbledore strongly advised that students remain on Hogwarts grounds. He tried to ban the monthly trips to the village, but Umbridge took the opportunity to show that she still had power within the school. She claimed that banning Hogsmeade weekends would hurt the local businesses and that some students wanted to volunteer to help with the reconstruction of Three Broomsticks. And since there was no evidence of a _current_ threat, Dumbledore had no argument to fight it. The Ministry now had aurors in the village and thought that protection from the rogue Azkaban escapees was enough. The only thing Dumbledore could do was ban students who were failing classes from attending this month's trip.

The students seemed torn as to whether they wanted to go or not. Christmas was coming up, and many believed that the escaped prisoners were mainly after Harry Potter and anyone close to him, as the Ministry led them to believe. Younger students received letters from their parents forbidding them to go until further notice. Many older students (especially male Gryffindors) went because they were afraid of being called cowards if they hid in their dorms all day. A majority of Slytherin had no fear about going to the village, since they had family members who were Death Eaters and knew they wouldn't be targets. But there was an entirely different reason for Fred Weasley to attend.

Stella had never been to Hogsmeade before and took a flippant attitude towards Death Eaters like her mother. She knew the kill cursing, and if someone was attacking her, she saw no reason why she shouldn't use it. Plus, she had something to do. But she wasn't going to tell "George" that. Stella smirked evilly at who she thought was Fred as she took "George's" arm as he led her from Hogwarts to the village, she strutted away, making sure to lean her head against her date's arm, not seeing Kim give the real George a high five.

Hermione stared at them in shock, wondering how Fred could be so happy. "I don't know what you're grinning about! How could George be so cruel?"

George plucked at the giant "F" on his shirt. "What a difference a letter can make." Hermione gaped and looked George up and down, trying to see if she could find any detail to be able to tell the twins apart.

Kim jumped up and down, glad to have outwitted Stella. "She's so stupid! I knew it would work!"

Fred had to say, so far, he was pretty disappointed with his date. She dragged him to the Hog's Head and went in the back room, disappearing for nearly an hour. The pub was rather busy since Three Broomsticks was still being rebuilt, so Fred tried to kill some time by helping out the owner. The poor old guy looked ready to drop dead with all the customers, and Fred didn't want to sit around and look like a loser who was stood up by his date, even if that was how he felt.

Stella smirked at the sight of Fred behind the counter when she finally emerged. There was a beetle on her shoulder that she frowned at and waved away. "Make me a sandwich with a soda on the side and let's go."

"Oh, no!" Fred said. "I waited for you, so now you have to go to Zonko's, _after_ we have a proper lunch."

"A _proper_ lunch?" Stella had seen how much Weasleys ate, to her disgust, and she had a feeling she might be stuck here all day.

Now it was Fred's turn to smirk. "Unless you would like to try our latest products? We've invented French fries that make you turn yellow."

"I prefer sandwiches instead of jaundice inducing starches. And sweet potato fries are better." Stella scanned the decrepit menu. "Want to prank Kim this week? I've got the most amazing idea."

Fred grinned. He may have to pretend to be George again, but she was practically asking to go on another date! "It'll be the highlight of my week."

* * *

Kim was lucky that Hermione showed her the morning paper on Sunday before she sluggishly headed for breakfast. Professor Snape would have slaughtered her. Stella may have won the battle, but the war was not over yet! She hid under her covers, ignoring how hungry she was. There was no way she was ever getting out of bed! Everyone already thought she was "bonkers" as Ron put it, but now she was really going to get funny looks. The headline read, _The Real Reason Why Kimberly Pendragon Was Institutionalized by Rita Skeeter._

Kim groaned at the memory. Of course Stella didn't say anything _she _did, even though she didn't attack Kim first…But that was beside the point! How was she supposed to go to Potions tomorrow when Professor Snape knew it was all her fault that his _darling _daughter lacked an eye?

Meanwhile, Severus was livid, pacing his office like a madman comparing Kim to James Potter in every way possible while trying to think of a reason to get her expelled from school. Stella grinned from the crack in the door. Perfect.

She decided to walk in like nothing was wrong, act all sweet for a minute or two before her mom busted into the place. "Hey!" Severus spun around so fast that he almost fell. "I'm trying out for Seeker next weekend. Are you going to watch?"

Severus opened his mouth to say something, but his door was thrown open once again. Stella raised her eyebrows. Her mom sure was fast. "Stella Servia Abbott! What the hell were you thinking? You are _so _apologizing, and you are _so_ scrubbing the floors in my room until your fingers are raw." Stella took a moment to admire how pissed off her mom was while she waited for Severus to explode. Her nostrils flared, she didn't even take the time to brush that rat's nest she called hair before storming down here in her night gown, and she was clutching the newspaper so hard that her nails started to rip it. Three, two, one…

"What is wrong with you, Elizabeth? She has nothing to apologize for!" Severus snarled.

Elizabeth put her hands on her hips. "Ha! You don't know the half of it, Severus." She grabbed her daughter's long hair and gave it a good yank. Stella made sure to yell out in pain. "_Someone_ likes to stir up trouble after matters have already been settled."

"Don't you touch her!" Severus's black eyes held an unusual heat in them that even made Stella flinch, but Elizabeth looked at him like he was a toddler throwing a tantrum.

"I bet she didn't tell you the horrible words that came spewing out of her mouth!" Elizabeth snapped. "I made sure Kim was punished, so get over yourself. The both of them too bitchy. You and James would be out of their league."

"She lost an eye!" Severus yelled. "I don't understand how you can chose _Potter_ over your own daughter!"

"Shut the fuck up, Severus!" Elizabeth shrieked. Stella smiled to herself and walked away. Mission accomplished. "I had Kim thrown in a nut house because I was so mad! But what Stella did was way out of line. It's manipulative. And believe it or not, I don't want her to spend the rest of her life bitter like you," she spat.

Severus walked closer to Elizabeth, so that their faces were inches apart. "I don't know who you think you're talking to Liz, but—"

Elizabeth turned her head and looked out the open doorway, into the hallway, making sure Stella wasn't hanging around listening. "As a Slytherin, you should've seen that one coming a mile away."

Severus blinked, breathing heavy like a winded bull. "Excuse me?"

Elizabeth smiled, saving her anger for the punching bag she had in her room with a picture Severus's teenage face glued to it. "She doesn't like me with men, and she sees you as a threat. She's a bit of an attention hog when it comes to me."

Severus stared. "So you're telling me…that she asked Skeeter to write this article just to get us to fight, so we won't…" He was so angry he couldn't even bring himself to say it.

"Of course." Elizabeth ran her fingers through her matted hair. "She's a pro."

"This doesn't change a damn thing," Severus snapped. "You are still way out of line—"

"Yeah, yeah. Save your breath for someone who cares." Elizabeth started to walk away but stopped in the doorway. Not turning around, she said, "You're already becoming putty in her hands. You better watch out. It'll really hurt when she disappoints you." She walked away without a word, leaving Severus more furious than he had felt in a long time.

* * *

Stella grinned, not believing that Kim was brave enough to show her face today. George assured her that the bushy haired one would force Kim out of bed for class. She sighed with contentment as George ran up to her with a potato sack filled with flobber worms. It was a good thing that she decided to pick on Fred by going out with George. He was as loyal as any old lapdog.

"Good." Stella reached in both her pockets and pulled a wand out of one, and two shrunken slingshots out of the other. She quickly enlarged them. "You better be a good shot."

Fred held the slingshot and frowned. Something about Kim and flobber worms sounded familiar to him, but Stella said she was absolutely disgusted by them, so maybe that was it. He inwardly shrugged and grabbed the slingshot. It was just a harmless prank. He turned his frown upward and boasted, "I'm Gryffindor's best beater. Of course, I'm a good shot."

Stella crinkled her nose in a way that Fred could only describe as cute. "Then hurry up! She's getting closer!"

Fred reached into the bag and quickly put a flobber worm in his slingshot, hitting Kim straight in the chest. Stella burst out laughing when the redhead nearly fell to the ground and shot a flobber worm smack dab in the middle of her face. This time she did fall to the ground and Harry and Hermione were looking around frantically to see what hit her. Kim was flailing like crazy and gasping for air. She managed to pry the flobber worm off her chest and threw it away. Her hand became red and puffy instantly. Fred felt his heart sink. Oh yeah…now he remembered…Kim was allergic to flobber worms. He was going to be in so much trouble! He could already hear the howler from his mum.

Kim found herself pouting in the Hospital Wing. She just got out of here! And now she was all puffy and gross, and Madame Pomfrey had to shove a thousand potions down her throat so she could breathe. At least she didn't have to see Professor Snape today. But her face was all covered in hives! Although, it was a sweet feeling knowing that she was going to miss that Defense test …

The Hospital Wing doors burst open, and Kim's day brightened just a little bit more when Sirius walked in looked far worse than her. Remus looked like he was torn between worry and trying not to laugh. Kim's puffy eyes danced with glee. "Sirius! Are you allergic to flobber worms too? Madame Pomfrey says we'll be out by lunch!"

Sirius turned his head towards her as much as he could manage. His skin was purple and swollen. He had festering bright green wounds all over his face, and his lips were swollen to the point that Sirius was surprised that Kim recognized him. "I did what you wanted and had a fit." He heard Remus let out a small laugh and tried to scowl, wincing as some of his sores cracked instead. "Snivellus decided to rearrange my face with every curse known to man after I tried to-to have a little chat with him about his daughter's behavior."

Kim wiggled her toes with excitement, since they were the only part of her that wasn't swollen right now. "Did you curse? Did you scream? Did you threaten bodily harm?"

Sirius folded his arms over his chest, accidently drawing attention to the fact that he no longer had fingernails. "Of course I did. Harry had to pull me off the git. What kind of godfather do you think I am?"

Kim grinned, and she was sure she looked awful. "One of the best!"

* * *

Fred hoped Stella wouldn't notice how nervous he was at lunch time when he headed over to the dungeons with a bouquet of dark blue flowers. He was going to try to force Stella to apologize by telling her that she could give these flowers to Kim in the Hospital Wing. She'd be as angry as Hell, and then Fred would smooth things over by pulling out another, much more beautiful bouquet of white flowers, saying that they were for Stella. George suggested a box of Canary Creams instead, but Fred never thought of George as the romantic type. His twin was going to have to learn from the master.

But Fred didn't feel like the master when he finally spotted Stella. She was in the doorway that led to the dungeons with her arms around Nicolas Grimmett's waist. They were kissing, and when Stella saw Fred out of the corner of her eye, she didn't even have the decency to stop. Fred felt like crap.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I have Ginny feeling possessiveness towards Harry because she has part of Voldemort's soul in her. Voldemort is obsessed with being the one to kill Harry and won't let anyone else, so I think that is possessive in its own way. Please review!**


	22. The Dream

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: For anyone who didn't like Snape last chapter, he will see Stella more realistically in two or three chapters. Shrug. I thought his reaction to how Stella lost her eye was perfectly reasonable…**

Chapter 22

Ginny wasn't entirely sure if she was dreaming or not. She only knew that she wasn't herself. It was almost like…she was inside the head of another. Something that she didn't think was even close to human. All she could think about was biting someone, and the fact that even though she wanted to eat, she couldn't. Her master forbade it.

She ran as fast as she could through the halls of the building, but the movement only confused Ginny further. She wasn't actually running, but she was moving at lightning speed. She couldn't feel her arms or her legs, so she didn't really understand how she was moving at such a fast pace. It was almost like she was…slithering.

But Ginny couldn't dwell on that too long because she found a scent, a scent of the person she was told to bite. She was almost there and her mouth was filling with something sickly sweet when Ginny saw her target. SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! Ginny didn't see that she attacked her own father until he fell to the ground.

Ginny woke up screaming and thrashing around as if she were inside Nagini herself. She heard someone running up the steps and soon heard Professor McGonagall's frantic voice. "What is the meaning of this? Miss-Miss Weasley calm down! Calm down!" Firm, but gentle hands grabbed Ginny by her shoulders, freezing her movements, but not slowing her thudding heart. "Did you have a nightmare, Sweetheart?" McGonagall whispered so none of the other girls in the room could hear. "Do you want me to firecall your parents?"

"NO! NO! MY DAD NEEDS HELP! OH MY GOD SHE KILLED MY DAD!" Ginny started sobbing uncontrollably. "NAGINI KILLED MY DAD!"

Minerva frowned. Why would Ginny know the name of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's snake? And how could she possibly know that the snake had killed her father? "Can you stand? I-I want to take you to Albus-I-I mean, Professor Dumbledore's office."

Ginny gripped the older woman's nightgown tightly, tears streaming down her face. "You-someone, anyone, please, please save my dad," she managed to wheeze out.

Minerva speed walked to Albus's office, managing to reach her destination in under ten minutes, even with Ginny leaning on her. As she suspected, the headmaster was wide awake, pacing as usual at nearly one in the morning, and stopped immediately upon their entrance. "What seems to be the problem, Minerva?" His expression aged him, like he had an idea of what they were going to say and desperately hoped that he was wrong.

"Miss Weasley—"

"Please! You have to help my dad! Please!" Ginny begged, running over to the old man, stumbling to the ground in front of him. Why would Tom do this? She didn't understand why he would attack her father, knowing how much it would hurt her.

Albus frowned as Minerva told him what Ginny said after she woke up screaming. He knew where Arthur was and wasn't sure if he should waste time questioning Ginny. He needed to have Arthur rescued immediately. The risk was too great if he pressed her for answers until he was sure that she was telling the truth. And maybe Ginny would be more willing to talk if she knew her father was safe, and while Voldemort's betrayal was still fresh in her mind.

He sighed and had a quick chat with Everard's portrait, who went to check on Arthur. Albus still wasn't sure if he should believe Ginny, maybe the girl simply had a nightmare from being held captive, but he wasn't willing put Arthur's life in jeopardy. There were some many possibilities, and none of them were good.

Ginny stared at him with wide, frantic eyes the entire time. Choosing his words carefully, Albus sat in his seat behind his desk and asked gently, "How do you know you're father was attacked, Ginny?"

She gaped at him, torn between helping her father and keeping the secrets of her lover. "I-I'm not sure…I had a dream…" Ginny quickly looked away. "Are you sure the portrait can help my dad?"

Albus nodded. "The Ministry would be less likely to believe me. Everard will alert anyone in the area. It is faster and safer this way." Ginny nodded and wiped tears out of her eyes. "Why do you think you would have such a vision?" Albus pressed on. Minerva sat quietly in the corner, hanging on to their every word.

Ginny's eyes darkened for a split second. "How am I supposed to know? And how do you know my dad is at the Ministry?"

Albus folded his hands together and leaned forward. "He is making sure something is safe for me. I think you know why you had that vision, Ginny. Everyone makes mistakes, and I can help you make everything right again. You don't even have to tell me. You can tell your mother or Professor McGonagall. Whoever you feel most comfortable with."

Ginny took a step back. "I don't need your help," she snarled as if she were a frightened animal backed into a corner. She was willing to fight, not cower. "My dad needs your help, and instead of making sure he gets it, you are sitting here, interrogating me!"

What was he going to do? Albus no longer felt comfortable taking Ginny to Grimmauld with all the documents that the Order kept in the building, but even suggesting that the girl was a threat to the Order may cause uproar with the Weasleys. Albus didn't think Voldemort thought of her as a spy. No. Ginny Weasley was a weapon that was only waiting to be used. He needed to learn more about the locket that she once wore, but he knew for a fact that Ginny wouldn't be willing to tell him anything about it right now, judging by how defensive she was getting. Buying time, Albus said, "Sylvia's apartment is near the Ministry and St. Mungo's. I'll tell her that you and your mother are coming over. That way, once you get news of your father, you can be there within minutes."

Finally starting to relax, Ginny let out a shaky breath and nodded.

Sylvia was already starting to blush as she led Mrs. Weasley and Ginny to her third floor apartment. She'd been hanging at Calvin's house these past couple months, making sure he didn't kill the Muggles. She knew her place had at least an inch thick layer of dust, and she was pretty sure she never told Winky to unclog her drain in the kitchen sink…Mrs. Weasley was going to think she was a slob. Taking a deep breath, Sylvia shoved the key in the doorknob and turned, ready to apologize for the mess.

Surprisingly, and thankfully, Sylvia opened the door to reveal a spotless apartment. Mrs. Weasley hurried in and nearly collapsed on the sofa, eying the fireplace with a mixture a fear and impatience. Albus was going to floo them when they could head to the hospital. Ginny shyly walked in and sat next to her.

Still confused, Sylvia walked in slowly, wondering if Winky somehow managed to keep the place clean the whole time. She would have noticed if Winky kept disappearing to clean it, and she never told the elf to keep the place in order. Then again, she never said not to either. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice that was rough with sleep but very familiar. "What you doing here?"

Sylvia nearly yelped with shock. She was sure she looked like a complete idiot with her eyes bugging out of her head and her mouth slack jawed. "_Percy?_"

* * *

Even though it was rather late, Remus found himself awake and struggling to talk to Sirius. "S-Sirius?"

Sirius smirked. "Sex now, talk later," he said as he tore off Remus's belt. Remus frowned as he tried to wriggle out of Sirius's grasp. He had to tell him something important, and he tried to put Sirius in a good mood to make it easier by dragging him out to dinner and forcing him to see a Muggle movie that Remus thought was awful and Sirius thought was hilarious. Maybe he put him in too much of a good mood…

"It's rather important-Ah!" Sirius slid on top of him and started unbuttoning Remus's shirt. "Sirius!"

"I'm sure it can wait until morning, Moony!" Sirius nearly whined. "No one's dead, right?"

"Right—" Remus tried to continue, but Sirius silenced him with a fierce kiss. When Sirius finally released him, he felt like he could barely breathe. "But I won't have the courage to tell you in the morning!"

Sirius pouted and folded his arms over his chest, still on top of Remus. "You're such a party pooper, Moony. In about a week the house will be full of screaming brats pounding on the door asking what's taking us so long to get dressed."

Remus laughed softly, wishing he could forget his troubles and do exactly what Sirius wanted. But if he didn't say anything, Sirius would soon become a bit too…distracting. "That has never happened, Sirius."

"Well it could," he replied like a stubborn child, reaching for the button on Remus's pants but stopping once Remus started to speak again.

"Dumbledore wants me to visit some neutral werewolf packs after the holidays." Remus felt anxiety flare up in his chest once he said it. Sure enough, Sirius tensed up immediately. He closed his eyes. Now all he had to do was wait for Sirius to start screaming at him.

Instead, Remus heard Sirius laugh a bit crazily. He wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Once Sirius could talk, his voice still held a bit of laughter. "Oh, Moony. Sometimes I forget that you lost your memory."

Remus opened one eye. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Again Sirius laughed. "You see, the last time you brought this up, I told you that you aren't going near werewolf packs unless I go with you. And don't think you can sneak off. I'm a light sleeper."

"Wha—? I-I there's no way…" Remus couldn't stop stuttering. "You can't…"

"Oh, but I can! I'm not letting you come home all beat up like you did fifteen years ago." Sirius grinned. It felt good to outsmart Remus for once.

"They-they'll feel threatened by you," Remus stammered out.

"Tough. I feel threatened with them around you." Sirius started unbuttoning his own shirt. "Now that we have that mattered settled…"

"This conversation isn't over!"

"Of course it isn't. We need to talk about what we need to bring, when we will be back, what to tell the kiddies…" Sirius threw his shirt on the floor and grinned like a maniac. "But that can wait until morning."

* * *

"What-what are you _doing_ here?" Sylvia half shrieked. "What happened to Penny?!"

Percy ran his hands through the hair on the back of his head, making it stick up in a way Sylvia found adorable, and looked away. "I broke up with her last year. I said I never broke up with her to try to make you jealous." He turned a watermelon color when he heard him mother gasp in the background. "But you never wrote to me."

"So you just decided to make yourself comfortable in _my_ apartment, while waiting for me to come crawling back, when this whole problem was entirely _your _fault?" Sylvia felt her right fingers twitch, itching to grab her wand and hex Percy into next week. "Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

"You didn't notice for over four months!" Percy narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Where have you been? The Burrow is empty."

"Don't you start implying shit! You've been bumming it in my house!" Sylvia stomped her feet and was ready to start screaming at him when the fireplace started to glow green.

Albus head surveyed his surroundings, eyes lingering on Percy for only a moment. "Arthur is alive. But he is badly wounded. Molly and Ginny can come to the waiting room, but I'm afraid I will have to wait a few hours for anyone else to arrive. I don't want the Ministry to become suspicious." Percy paled. What happened to his dad?

* * *

Sirius wondered if Remus was a little ticked that he insisted on joining him on his mission because today he was given his own mission, one that he wasn't sure if he would survive. Remus was fetching the Weasleys, Hermione, and Harry to leave for Christmas early while it was his mission to get Kim. And that unfortunately included informing her that Malfoy was going to be spending Christmas with the Zabinis. She was at the Ravenclaw table eating breakfast, and Sirius swore when he saw her gabbing away with Malfoy. This was going to be tough.

"…So I got Hermione a book about a house elf rebellion that happened a million billion years ago or something like that, and I got Ron a life sized sculpture of himself made out of Taffy. That'll come in the mail on the twenty third. I'm not sure how I'm going to hide it…" Kim stopped jabbering when Draco scowled at the sight of Sirius. "What?"

Sirius cleared his throat, making Kim spin around with wide eyes, wondering if he heard what she ordered him for Christmas. He gave her a small smile. "Pack your bags kiddo, we're leaving for Christmas early."

"But-but what about Draco?" Kim looked torn between arguing and seeing if crying would work. Sirius noted a bit of anxiety in Draco's eyes and felt a teensy bit guilty, though he'd never admit it.

"We talked to Mrs. Zabini. Draco will be staying with Blaise over the holidays," Sirius managed to say with all his Gryffindor courage.

As Sirius predicted, Kim didn't look too happy. "But Draco didn't do anything wrong! Ginny's going to have to get used to him eventually and—"

"It's fine," Draco said quietly. It was better than being stuck alone at school for Christmas. Maybe if he was lucky, and Kim didn't fight with Black, then she could floo over to Blaise's for an hour or so in a few days.

"So you'd rather spend Christmas with Blaise than me!" Kim squeaked in offense.

Draco narrowed his eyes. It was too early for this. "You know that isn't true. But there's no use in fighting over it." Kim opened her mouth, but Draco beat her to it. "And no, I'm not dyeing my hair so I look less like my father." Kim wanted him to dye his hair brown so Ginny would have less of a problem with him going to DA meetings. Draco thought he would look funny with brown hair, and as vain as it was, he didn't want to mess up his appearance for Weaselette.

Kim put on her brattiest pout and mumbled, "Why are we leaving early? Is it because Remus thinks I'll get sick again on Christmas?"

Sirius blinked in surprise and then swore under his breath after a quick count in his head. Four weeks from her last episode will be exactly on Christmas day. "No. Mr. Weasley is in the hospital. He's hurt rather badly, so please don't stress him out by complaining about this or looking nasty when you visit him."

Kim jumped out of her seat, worry instantly etched on her face. "Why didn't you say so?! I wouldn't of argued with you if I knew that! What happened to him? God Sirius! How much of a brat do you think I am?" She grabbed him by his arm and yanked him away, leaving Draco to go find Blaise.

Blaise's eyebrows shot up in surprise when Draco sat next to him. "I haven't seen you in forever, mate."

Draco smiled shyly. "You can blame the latest arrival," he said in a hushed tone since Stella was only a few seats away, fawning over Grimmet. "Thanks for letting me come over for the holidays." Draco felt his cheeks burn. Just a few years ago, he was making fun of Potter for not having anywhere to go during Christmas. Now he was the one who didn't have a family to go to.

Blaise nodded. "Anytime. Just be prepared for Pansy's basilisk of a mother." Pansy turned from her conversation with Daphne and playfully swatted her boyfriend on the shoulder, not offended in the slightest.

"Yeah, I figured." Draco sighed. There were rumors that Pansy's mum was a Death Eater. Her father…Draco didn't know much about him except that he was almost as rich as the Malfoys and didn't talk much. He was older and rather quiet compared to his constantly yapping wife. Draco always thought of Mrs. Parkinson as a trophy wife. And a rather evil trophy wife at that. "But if she's going to—"

Blaise silenced him with a shake of the head. "That woman will be a guest in _my_ house. If Mrs. Parkinson has a problem, she knows where the door is."

"And I'll be the one to slam it in her overly powder covered face," Pansy added in an offhanded tone. "I'm going sixteen in a couple months. Once I'm of age, I hope to never see the shrew again. She won't a problem, Draco. Blaise's mom won't put up with it." That actually made Draco feel loads better. No one messed with Mrs. Zabini.

* * *

Arthur felt like his eyelids had galleons on them when he tried to open his eyes the following night. He felt like he was sliced by that Muggle device called a can opener and wondered if he was still on the floor at the Ministry. He hoped not and thought after seeing Nagini that his death should have been rather quick. He groaned, wondering if he would have the strength to ask for help when he heard a sound that made him want to weep with relief. "Arthur?! Thank Merlin! Healer! He's awake! My Arthur's awake!"

Potions were immediately poured down his throat while Arthur struggled to open his eyes. It took a moment for his vision to become less blurry. Molly was by his side and sitting in chairs in front of his bed were a guilty looking Ginny and surprisingly enough, Percy. His third son was silent these past few months, and Arthur figured that he wouldn't have the guts to visit him. He never visited Ginny.

"D-Dad?" Percy walked over to him cautiously, as if Arthur had the strength to jump out of bed and force him out of the room. "I'm so sorry." He looked at the ground after the words tumbled out, waiting for rejection.

"It's alright, son," Arthur said hoarsely. The healer put a plastic white cup filled with cold water and a straw poking out of it to his mouth, which cooled his dry, scratchy throat. After checking his vitals and bandages, the healer left to give the family some privacy and to try to find some potions to fight the snake's venom.

"It's not alright," Percy snapped, angry with himself. "I ruined my relationship with everyone dear to me for the Ministry. And you almost…" He couldn't bring himself to say that he almost lost his father and grew silent. The possibility of losing his father made him realize how important his family really was. Who cares about a stupid job? His father almost died. His father, who Percy hadn't spoken to in months. He felt like the worst son in the world.

"You are my son, Percy. There's nothing you can ever do to change that. Everyone messes up, and I will always forgive you." Even though Arthur's eyes were becoming sleepy, he couldn't help but notice how desperately Ginny hung on to his every word and how her eyes filled with tears after his last sentence.

* * *

Everyone else was sitting in the waiting room, not saying a word until Percy emerged, saying that Arthur was sleeping and was going to be alright. No one questioned his sudden appearance. Today was too stressful to fight with Percy or demand to know why he had a sudden change of heart. They could talk to him another day, and for a while, they weren't sure they could say the same about the Weasley patriarch. One by one, the remaining Weasleys, including Bill and Charlie, filed into the hospital room.

Harry watched them go and looked down at his poor, torn up finger nails on his left hand. Why was Ginny having those dreams all of the sudden? He himself hadn't had a dream since last year. He wondered if Voldemort did something to her after Narcissa captured her. Harry wanted to ask Sirius, but whenever he asked a question, Mad-Eye would have a paranoid fit about talking about such things in public.

"We'll visit in a couple hours." Sirius peered into the doorway. "The room looks pretty full right now."

"We should buy Mr. Weasley lots of get well presents! Like candy and flowers and a giant teddy bear!" Kim frowned. "And get him a giant Muggle robot!"

"For the last time, they are called cars." Harry shook his head and laughed, wondering if she insisted on calling cars robots just to tease him.

Remus smiled, looking rather tired. "Actually, I managed to get you an appointment."

Kim narrowed her eyes. "You mean Harry, right? Is he getting new glasses?" Sirius frowned and looked at Harry's glasses, which made Harry fidget because it was like Sirius was going out of his way to stare into his eyes. Harry shot Kim a dark look. His vision was just fine. He didn't needed new glasses, but now Sirius was going to insist that Madame Pomfrey check him over.

"Nice try," Remus said, ignoring Sirius. "We're seeing Madame Pomfrey's sister, who wants to examine you. After that we can see Mr. Weasley." Kim scowled as Remus stood up and stretched. "Don't worry. You'll live."

With an angry huff, Kim hopped out of her seat to follow him. "If she kills me, you'll feel really bad." Remus rolled his eyes and led the way.

Madame Pomfrey's sister, Flora, looked like an older and if possible, more stern version of Poppy. Remus could tell from the look on Kim's face that she didn't like the woman from the start. Healer Pomfrey gave Kim a once over. "There has never been a case that has stumped me as much as yours."

Kim pouted, having a feeling where this was going. But still, it didn't hurt to try to escape. "Well, then you better get studying."

With a flick of the healer's wand, the door snapped shut before Kim could try to run out it. "Nonsense. I need blood samples, urine samples, and a few strands of hair. I also want to know if you've had any changes in diet or sleeping patterns. Do you have any allergies? Are you sexually active? Perhaps I'll even take a bowel sample." The look of horror on Kim's face was so priceless that Remus had to bite the side of his cheek to prevent himself from laughing. Without a word, Sirius turned around and left. His roars of laughter could be heard down the hall a few moments later.

Red in the face, Kim managed to choke out, "I-I—Don't kill me! I want to live!" Harry quickly covered his mouth to hide his smile.

Healer Pomfrey summoned a syringe. "Then I think it's best we get started."

* * *

Kim and Remus caught up with later them after Harry and Sirius brought Mr. Weasley some new plugs from a nearby electronics store. She looked pale and a little sleepy claiming that Healer Flora was actually a vampire and that she was going to perish in the night. Sirius grinned cheerfully as they headed over to St. Mungo's floo to head back to Dumbledore's office, making her hiss quietly at him. "Albus told me the greatest news this morning. We're spending Christmas at Calvin's house instead of Grimmauld!"

Kim frowned. "Hey! That's not Calvin's house! That's mine!"

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Why would you buy a house and not live in it?"

"I inherited it! I'm too young to buy a house," Kim said with a yawn. "I hope he has soda."

Sirius stopped in his tracks. "We've literally been living in filth, with Kreacher I might add, all this time when you've owned a house that isn't about to fall apart and doesn't have a portrait of my mother in it."

Kim tapped her chin. "When you say it like that…" She shrugged. "Yes."

Sirius pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "I'm not getting you a puppy."

"WHAT?"

They immediately started bickering, and Harry couldn't have sworn he could still hear them when he flooed into Dumbledore's office. Why Kim would want a puppy that she couldn't bring to Hogwarts with her, Harry would never understand. Hedwig suited him just fine. Once he reached Dumbledore's office, they were arguing over the imagery dog's name. Harry looked at Remus who shrugged. How did the argument escalate to that when Kim was yelling at him for _not_ getting her the puppy that she knew she wasn't going to get any time soon?

"Her name will be Princess Pineapple because she her fur will be yellow!"

"_His_ name will be Knight because he will be as dark as night and as brave as a knight!"

"Then I wouldn't be able to tell you two apart! Princess Pineapple!"

"Knight!"

"Calvin's Castle," Albus interrupted with a smile on his face. Kim spun around with stared at him with wide, furious eyes. "He never told me the house was yours, Kimberly, so that is the code that will let you in." He turned to Remus. "There will be an Order meeting at Grimmauld tonight." Remus nodded, knowing that they were going to be discussing Ginny's dream.

Harry was the first to floo to Calvin's and gasped once he stumbled through the fireplace. Looking equaling stunned as he was and sitting on the couch in the parlor in front of a large television were the Dursleys. Harry looked at the fireplace fearfully. Sirius was definitely not going to like this.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! And for anyone who figured out what the ring does, I hope it doesn't sway you from this story. Please review!**


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